Category Archive

I was going for a swim the other morning (okay, I was going to walk around in the water), when I noticed there were some people already in the pool. I was slightly annoyed because on previous mornings I had the pool all to myself and I could play my music and enjoy the solitude and the water. I almost didn’t get in but then began to laugh at myself. I was acting as if I owned the pool when in reality it was community property. The pool was for all the residents. It wasn’t mine. I smiled as I thought about how easy it is to become possessive of things that don’t belong to us. I wonder if that’s … Read More

I was reminded recently of a familiar saying among Christians that we are to be in the world but not of it. This thinking has some basis in Jesus’ prayer for his disciples in John 17:16, “They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” Too many Christians use this thinking to opt out of addressing “worldly” concerns. We justify our lack of engagement by pointing to the evil that is around us as something to be avoided. We’ll pray, but not get too involved. After all, the world is just too messy. The problem is Jesus didn’t hide from the world’s mess. Jesus maintained his unique identity while fully engaging a broken … Read More

Recently, I went to see the movie Wonder Woman and must admit I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found myself really getting into the fight scenes (literally throwing punches in the air). As I thought about it later, I wondered why I enjoyed the fight scenes so much. I realized it wasn’t so much about the fighting as it was seeing the “bad guys” being defeated. Perhaps I reacted as I did because for me the “bad guy” isn’t defeated often enough. In the real world, sometimes, the “bad guy” gets away, the situation doesn’t get resolved, or the problem isn’t fixed. In the real world, good people get hurt, suffer, and don’t always get what they deserve. It is in … Read More

I was holding a jar of peanut butter recently and as I turned it over in my hand and read the label the words “Simply Jiff,” caught my attention. I thought, “well, that says it all.” I mean, that tells you it is what it is, no more, no less. Wouldn’t it be cool if when we met people we could be “Simply Cheryl,” or “Simply Chris,” no need to pretend, to be uncomfortable, or try to impress. There’s something to be said for simply being who we are, the wonderful, unique and awesome creations of a God who accepts and loves each one of us. Wouldn’t it be great if we all understood that? Maybe the next time I … Read More