There’s something about buried treasure that stirs the imagination of children everywhere—children of all ages, I should say. Recently an anchor from the 18th-century pirate Blackbeard’s ship Queen Anne’s Revenge was dredged up in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina.
THE WHEAT AND the weeds grow up together: That is a succinct description of human history. Certainly it was true in Jesus’ own biography. He chose 12 apostles to be his intimate associates, and was not one of them a sometimes negative presence?
Storytelling is a time-honored occupation. We may not sit around the tribal campfire anymore to hear what the bards have to say, but we do plop onto the sofa in front of the TV, fire up the Netflix Instant Watch on the computer, or read an old-fashioned novel in bed—with or without a Kindle.
There's a saying in Haiti that sums up many conversations there: Life is hard, but God is good. Coming from a community that's among the poorest on the planet, it's a statement of faith that inspires wonder.
IN 1993 MCDONALD’S sold its 100 billionth hamburger. Because only two digits fit on their existing signs, it was decided to permanently install the count at McDonald’s as “Over 99 Billion Served.” It may no longer be an accurate amount, but that’s still a lot of happy meals
SAINT PAUL OFFERS a wonderful prism through which to consider the Trinity: the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. To begin at the natural top of this triangle, many scripture texts support the revelation of divine love. God is memorably defined by this central attribute in 1 John 4:16.
AMONG THE READINGS we don’t hear this weekend is the passage from Ecclesiastes 3 about the appointed time for everything. It would be a good one for Pentecost because it explores how transformative the simple motion of time can be.
Is there a proper season for prayer? The fourth-century Eastern Church Father Saint Basil the Great said there is.
When athletes in racing, basketball, or other sports leave the ground even for a few seconds, they are said to “catch air.” Especially when it comes to basketball, most of those players have a higher perspective than the rest of us who are only walking around!
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN puzzles over the mystery of why Jesus left his friends after reuniting with them in the Resurrection. Things couldn’t be the same between them, he suggests, after the “awful truth” of the divinity of Jesus was revealed to their formerly imperceptive imaginations.