We have been waiting and waiting and waiting. That of course is what advent is all about—waiting for the Lord’s arrival. But now the wonder of Christmas has arrived. Of course, the problem with this is now that it is here, what will we do with this new reality. Last week as I was scrolling through Facebook, I came across a link to a news article whose headline caught my attention. To summarize—several years ago, there was a story out of the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin about a rare female whooping crane named Tex. For some reason, Tex seemed to have an emotional attachment to male humans but not to male cranes. That was a problem, because Tex wouldn’t perform the usual crane
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall r
There aren’t many things I remember from individual college lectures. There are even a few classes I barely remember taking. And while they all helped me grow in learning how to think critically, some of them impacted me more than others. The class where Dr. Jack Presseau took us on a field trip to the funeral home so we could be prepared for ministry in that setting was creepy but invaluable. Because of that experience, I believe I am better equipped to help families navigate that time when often they are too numb or too distraught, and for that I am grateful. And the day spent there still makes a great story to this day! Dr. Prater recognizing I had a learning disability and helping me get
I remember hearing a sermon a few years ago (ok more than a few) in which the preacher wanted the congregation to think about Christmas in a new way by imagining that the birth of Christ was like the birth of any child—expected but unexpected. Let me explain. The preacher wondered what would happen if we decided to move the Christmas holiday away from December 25th and proclaim that Christmas would officially arrive “after Halloween when the first snow came.” Now obviously this preacher was from up north somewhere and not from someplace like Florida or South Georgia where it snows so infrequently that Christmas might come only once every few years like the Olympics or Leap Year! But let’s pl