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“Do You Still Have Your Faith?”
In Jerusalem, an Englishman tracked me down inside a shop to ask, “Do you still have your faith?” This man had been standing in line next to my husband, somewhere else on a street in the Old City, waiting to exchange currency. When my husband told him that his wife was a seminary student, traveling with a group from the seminary, the man came looking for me. While I stood at a counter in a small, cramped shop with myriad items for sale, where a path wound through, just wide enough for a few shoppers at a time, his appearance startled me. This stranger somehow identified me from among others…
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Hebrews 11: A Footnote to Stories
When asked what one book he would want if he were stranded on a deserted island, humorist, theologian, philosopher G. K. Chesterton said, “Why, a book on ship-building, of course.” Quick wit and clever answer, he answered a hypothetical question the way all questions based on conjecture should be answered. Only, I would want to be stranded with the book of Hebrews. If not the entire book, then at least chapter 11. This one chapter consolidates, illuminates, and reflects the entire Bible message. It’s actually a footnote to stories in the Old Testament. Beginning in Genesis, in chronological order, the writer of Hebrews starts thinking through the historical books, ending…
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Sad Movies Always Make Me Cry
A friend repeated what her mother said. “If your eyes leak, your head won’t swell.” She meant that you won’t get a big head. Sometimes, I just need to cry. I may not realize that I am carrying an emotional load, or wearing sadness like a garment, or consciously think a good cry would help. But physiologically and psychologically, crying can relieve the heart of its heaviness and cleanse the soul the way rain clears the air and waters the soil. For some reason, I started thinking of films that have always made me cry. In no particular order, here are a few movies that awaken my tear ducts. Funny…
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Out of the Mouth of Babes . . .
The dictionary defines “babe” as 1. a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk, or 2. (slang) sometimes used as a term of address for attractive young women. Neither definition of babes applies in this post. Spiritual Babes According to Scripture In Psalm 8, the psalmist addressing the LORD wrote, “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength . . .” (KJV). Newer translations translate babes as babies and sucklings as infants. At least some of what those words mean is that God sometimes speaks through immature, unexpected sources, offering wisdom that comes directly from Him. Here,…
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Be Yourself. Nobody Does It Better.
How did I get to be me when I used to think I wanted to be somebody else? When people told me I looked like Sally Field, I was thrilled by the comparison. When people told me I looked like my mother, I started to worry. Well, it’s easy to project onto someone you don’t know characteristics you wish you had. Also, it’s just as easy to see in someone you do know characteristics you don’t want. This explains my wishful thinking on the one hand and underlying anxiety on the other. When I ran into Sally Field in a hardware store in Encino, California, I asked her to sign…
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Checkpoint July 2021: Is the Media Helping You Feel Better About Your Life?
(From the archives, this article was posted a year ago. Unable to write new posts the past 2 weeks, this article contains edits to update. Thank you, Readers, for checking back with me.) Mark Twain lived most of his life in the 19th century and Malcolm X lived during the 20th century. These men could not have existed further apart in history, society, or proximity. Consider these quotes. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” MARK TWAIN, B.…
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Some People Just Want to Whine
Picturing the end of my years at Dallas Theological Seminary, I had lunch with 2 friends. One of the women attended the same church I did, but our parallel lives at DTS rarely intersected. I enjoyed spending time with her because we could have lively discussions that revealed our different points of view. When she asked if I had heard Sunday’s sermon, she wanted to know if I liked it. “I loved it. I thought it was amazing.” “Well, I’ve heard both sides,” she said. “Really? What have you heard?” “Well, it was really good if you weren’t going through a trial. But for people in the midst of a…
