From absolutely nothing came absolutely everything that we see, touch, and taste. From the depths of emptiness, God is still creating a vast, ever-expanding universe. Putting it mildly, that is some imagination. If we, children of God, are built in the image of God, then the imagination gene...

  Topnotch movie productions hire body doubles for their blockbuster stars. This makes sense if the film is action packed, but paying someone for their hands on film or in photographs? Yep. This is still a “huh” for me. But it’s true. There are professional hand models out there. We...

  Denying Jesus isn’t as bad as doubting him. At least that is what has been packaged through the centuries when it comes to Peter, who denies Jesus and Thomas who doubts him. We know the story. Peter’s three denials increase in intensity. First, he gives a simple denial to...

    It has been a long enough time that no one can remember when this young woman whom I’ll call Elise said to me what she said. It was moments after the memorial service in the church for her nearest and dearest “bestie,” a twenty-something who had died suddenly...

  Dear Covid-19, We’ve never met directly. If we had, I doubt you’d forget me. Why? I think I’d stand out to you because I wouldn’t come in all angry at you at the front end of our conversation. That, in itself, may shock you. It may, in fact, be...

  I appreciate protocols to keep hospitalized patients protected. This is why I always call a hospital in advance to see what current safety precautions are in place before I make a visit to pay a pastoral call to someone hospitalized. I called a hospital in advance. We are all...

    A friend recently shared that quiet time with God was important but not necessary to her. This remark seemed to be secondhand in the conversation she was having with me about her prayer life. It wasn’t secondhand. I asked her to share more. “Those idle moments with God,”...

    I thought the preacher speaker would get to us. Maybe we’d get a paragraph. Maybe a sentence or two. I kept on thinking this, even when the 30-minute speech should have been 20-minutes. I’m talking about my doctoral graduation this past fall. The commencement address speaker apparently had...

    Federal officials with Operation Warp Speed hope that about 50 million people will have received their first of two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of January, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said recently. To me, this news is a breath—a sigh—from God who...

  Walter Cronkite was the Dry Guy on TV when I was a kid. By no means is this a slight or slam to this renowned TV anchor. It’s just that as a boy growing up, Mr. Cronkite was never theatrical or, more importantly, divisive. Certainly, he wasn’t polarizing. Without...