Can we agree that a forty-foot tall singing Christmas tree is not a requirement for Christmas? That feels like it will be controversial. “Who doesn’t love the choir, the orchestra, the music?” I can hear the voices of people I know and care about. I can hear some of you. In our minds and hearts […]

Here was my pitch to Rich Dixon who writes here on Wednesdays: “I’m writing a new series for advent. I’ll have the posts for each day flow out of the sermon for the week. It will make me write new things. It will let me use my writing twice.” Rich said, “I’ll have a break […]

Years ago, while preparing for Easter, I read someone say, “On Easter Sunday, we don’t have to persuade or argue or debate the resurrection. We can announce it.” As I’ve thought about this first week of Advent, I’ve thought about what we can announce about hope. What is the basis of confidence that we can […]

It may be my greatest fear as a chaplain. That I will tell a family, “This will turn out great.” And then the patient dies. Wearing a badge that implies, “This person speaks for God.” I never want to offer false hope. Three years ago, we looked at these same texts from Psalm 80 and […]

God. The advent readings talk about when you, Jesus, will come another time. We call it the second coming.We call it the end times.Paul called it the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are going to come and things will get all better.All that is wrong will be made right.All that is broken will […]