Memorial Day is just a few days away. On the last Monday of May, we pause from the usual day-today routines of life and work to remember and honor the legacy of the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. Memory can be a strange...
It was the morning of July 4th, 1952 when Florence Chadwick slipped into the icy waters by Catalina Island and began her attempt to be the first woman to swim to the California coast. From time to time sharks moved toward her but were driven off by rifle shots. Then...
There’s a story about some older men who gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their college graduation. Naturally, all of them had changed in appearance over the years – they were grayer, heavier, balder, more wrinkled and so on. But instead of providing name tags, as some reunions do,...
There are numerous references in the Bible where Jesus touched someone, or someone touched Him, and they were healed. The blind were able to see, the deaf hear, and demons cast out. Touching someone can encourage and comfort. I miss not being able to shake a hand or console someone...
In the December 2018 issue of The Lutheran Witness, an official publication of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a title of one of the articles really grabbed my attention: “When Jesus Ruins Christmas.” It begins, “Up against the glorious reality of Christ’s incarnation, a ‘holly jolly Christmas’ loses all it’s...
I recently ran across two strange, but interesting, folk stories pertaining to some Christmas traditions. One of them was about a spider and the other about a pickle! How peculiar is that? There are many variations as to how and why these traditions got started. So, I’ll try to offer...
(Continued from last month) Then Jesus rises from prayer in Gethsemane and awakens his disciples to face his destiny. “Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane is explained by his lonely cry at Golgotha: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” recalling the...
Sometimes I wonder why the Garden of Gethsemane is included in the Gospels. Frankly, it’s easy to misunderstand. Jesus is struggling, sweating profusely, so torn up inside, so exposed, so human. At first glance, Jesus seems weak, actually asking the Father to help him back out of the plan forged...
“Let us all with gladsome voice praise the God of heaven, Who, to bid our hearts rejoice, His own Son hath given.” Christmas is the season we praise and thank our heavenly Father for the promised and wondrous gift of the Messiah, Christ-child. The giving and receiving of Christmas presents...
O Come, O Come Immanuel “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 The ancient and prominent Advent hymn bids God to fulfill His promise and come to us in His incarnate...