What is the Apostles’ Creed?

I believe in God, the Father almighty,      creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,      who was conceived by the Holy Spirit      and born of the virgin Mary.      He ... Continue reading

When suicide sat down to dinner

“After you were born, your mother told me: 'We're just here to be memories for our kids.'”Cooper saying goodbye to Murphy in the movie InterstellarI barely remember my father, and what “memories” I have might be manufactured, for all that I know. I suspect most of them are just impressions ... Continue reading

A new normal

Not everyone always gets 100 percent restoration. But we help them to get to a new normal. — Carl Josehart, CEO of TIRR Memorial Hermann rehab hospital speaking about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' road to recovery. Arizona Daily Star, January 23, 2011. There is no way to predict the changes ... Continue reading

Anne Rice and being Christian

I claim to be a Christian. What does that label really mean?Does it imply something about my politics? Does it tell you what sort of a car I drive? Is it a label sewn into my clothes, like the once-celebrated label of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union from this 1981 ad campaign? ... Continue reading

Hemmed in, hiked out

When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. — Acts 18:5, ESV Back when I was in college, I had a good friend who lived on the North Carolina coast. Brack and I owned a small sailboat together, and whenever I could ... Continue reading

The specter of change

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be. — Thomas à Kempis Too often, it seems the things we wish we could change we cannot, while the things we wish would stay as they are, change. The world is in flux and we're changing ... Continue reading

Who’s in charge?

I suppose if you asked any of the candidates for president why he (or she) is running for office, they'd all say they want to change things.It may be the universal first cause for public service. Men and women at every level of government will tell you that they got into politics because they ... Continue reading

A rose by any other name…?

Catholic Bishop Martinus "Tiny" Muskens of the Netherlands — a uniter, not a divider — has suggested that we could bring the world's three major religions closer together if everyone used the Islamic name for God — Allah. Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on ... Continue reading