The highway traffic began to slow down. Sixty-five was the speed limit, but when it hit fifty-five and then forty-five it was obvious that something had happened up ahead. The curves and elevation changes of the road prevented seeing the cause, but everyone thought that it must be a bad wreck.
Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Stop. Nothing but tail lights and short tempers three lanes deep. Continue reading Tapping the Brakes
Chewing gum stuck to the shoe or under a chair once occupied a person’s mouth. And, the more that other pieces of gum congregate with it the more noxious it becomes. Like at the Pike Place Gum Wall in Seattle.
A used Kleenex blowing down the street on a windy day should only be touched with the edges of one’s fingernails, certainly not with the skin of the fingers. Who knows what was blown into the absorbent sheet. Continue reading Treated Like Used Gum
In an ancient middle eastern village a leper took up his usual place. He sat on his tattered carpet with a tin cup waiting for whatever would clink from the passersby of his little world. He stayed there from dawn to dusk, no matter what the weather. His meal that night would depend on what he received for the day.
A self-righteous person had a noticeably unpleasant expression on his face as he looked at the leper. He walked this way often, and this wasn’t the first time he had seen the leper, sometimes saying under his breath, “Lazy bum; why don’t you get a job like the rest of us. If I was in your shoes, I’d find some kind of job, even becoming a slave.” Continue reading Compassion and the Leper
One hundred and forty characters.
Even commas and tildes count.
A hashtag or an ampersand has the same weight
As an A or an O.
Descriptions won’t fit.
A sunset or a baby’s cheek
Get no more space than
A street address. Continue reading The Twitter Post
I hate liver. I can still smell the pungent odor that was created when my mother cooked liver and onions. I can still remember trying to stifle the gag reflex it caused when my parents told me to “eat your dinner.” I can still feel its awful texture in my mouth and taste the nasty, livery flavor.
In short, you could never tempt me to eat liver. I’d have to be starving before I’d let it pass by my lips.
The cover of the January 8, 2014 edition of Christian Century proclaimed, “Why We Need the Dark Psalms.” In the cover article, writer Martin Tel reminds his readers of how the Western church has conveniently eliminated the dark psalms from its song repertoire in favor of happier psalms and hymns.
I have to admit that the Psalms are more representative of life than the hymnbook of the name-it-and-claim-it crowd on Sunday morning television. As much as we’d like it to be otherwise, life is unfair, cruel, unpredictable, and ruthless. Continue reading Singing the Dark Psalms
If human beings ever had a reason to feel pessimistic, it was during the time of Isaiah the prophet in the 8th century BC. The world was in political turmoil.
The nation of Assyria was ascending in power and gobbling up vast amounts of land. Israel and Judah had experienced the violence of Assyria when the Assyrian army swooped down in military soirees, totally destroying the northern part of Israel and also punishing the southern part. Countries surrounding Israel were trying unsuccessfully to create political alliances to withstand Assyria’s gathering power. Continue reading The Desert Shall Bloom
A business owner named Ray, looking for help with a project at his business, went to the local unemployment office to hire a worker.
When he arrived at the office he found two men, Bill and Sam waiting for work. Ray explained his project, what he was willing to pay, and the requirements of the job. In separate interviews, each man explained his respective job qualifications and experience, and both men seemed equally qualified for the job. Continue reading A Parable
Job was a wealthy man, but in a course of quick and awful events he lost it all. Everything — children, livestock, servants, and property.
Job’s response to the loss was to say, “I was born naked, and I will leave this world naked,” Job 1:21. More modern versions of this saying are, “There are no pockets in a shroud,” or “There’s no U-Haul trailer behind a hearse.” Continue reading No Pockets in a Shroud
Penninah was the wife of Elkanah, and she bore him several children, both sons and daughters. People in town twittered about what a good wife she was and how happy Elkanah was with all his children. Her children’s Parent Teacher Organization named her mother of the year. Penninah seemed to be a walking billboard for the prosperity gospel.
Hannah was the second wife of Elkanah. She had no children. Her shoulders sagged, and wrinkles creased her brow. Mealtimes around the Elkanah house were silent reminders to Hannah of the fact that she had no children to feed – thus her smaller portion of food. She would often just weep and leave the food on her plate. Continue reading Who is like our Lord?
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