The Word of God is a vital and dynamic force from the first moment of creation to the present hour, as it compels us to step into the light of truth. The Word isn't a law that binds us but rather a call that liberates us.

Christians know that belief in resurrection is a nonnegotiable of their faith, but the challenge lies in finding ways to make resurrection real in everyday life. Such a task is easier, if that's the proper word, when someone dies, because we have a concrete opportunity to hope in the eternal life of the loved one who died.

MY MOTHER IS 82 and has decided, at this late date, that she doesn’t want to go to heaven—which is too bad really because she’s headed in that direction. “Heaven bothers me,” she said bluntly during my last visit home. I felt obliged to inform her: "Mom, most people are bothered by hell, you know."

In the wake of the recent election and at a time when political conflict in the U.S. is as entrenched as perhaps any time since the Civil War, it is interesting to recall the words of a little-known figure from before the Civil War, Illinois Governor Joseph Duncan, who was elected in 1834.

At a leadership retreat, two teams were given the task of  getting from point A to point B on a huge Twister-like grid. The rules were very specific about what moves forward, backward, and sideways were legal and which weren't. It was very apparent that a straight run by every team member would not do the trick.

In my first year of priesthood, I was privileged to bring Holy Communion monthly to a 95-year-old woman who was being cared for by her only surviving child, a 75-year-old man. There were some months when her health was better than his, and she found herself taking care of him. She was a remarkable person.

"When did you stop beating your wife?" So goes the trick question, designed so any answer you give will leave you embarrassed.

We pray for forgiveness of our failings and for encouragement to follow the Lord.

The king of the world will raise us up to live again forever. The only appearance of the Books of Maccabees in the Sunday lectionary has one of the most explicit references to resurrection in Hebrew scripture. Before Maccabees, most of the Hebrew Bible assumed the spirits of the dead went below earth into Sheol.

Love makes the whole difference between an execution and a martyrdom. --Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941)