Of all we learn from our families, it seems to me that what we learn most and best depends on how and how much we were loved. In Christ, we learned that true, sacrificial, and selfless love is the most powerful force in the universe. Because of love, God comes incarnate into the world. Because of love, Jesus experiences crucifixion. Because of love, there is resurrection, and the possibility of a life that transcends the annihilation of death. God loves with a perfect love that shapes and...

“Why are you weeping?” Jesus speaks to Mary Magdalene, a woman conjecture and gossip made a prostitute, not the truth of scripture. Easter’s shining morn has broken. The tomb filled by death night before now stands vacant. At first, Mary does not recognize Jesus. Then she turns astonished for death cannot hold the power of God. Some will say God changed. They will argue the Old Testament God of wrath was replaced with the New Testament God of mercy, grace and love. Perhaps, like Mary...

Historically, a feature that often shows up for some people during troubled eras is an increasing obsession with predictions regarding the “end times,” or events surrounding the end of the world. In our current difficulties and hard times, this concern has been heightened because of the war with Iran and reports of some US military leaders connecting the war as presaging, or even triggering, the “rapture,” the physical return of Jesus, and the end of the world. Last week and this, I’ve...