I celebrate a special birthday this week. As I approach this milestone (hardly believing how many years have passed) I ponder the blessings and challenges of the ensuing years. Even the challenges include joy and growth and inspiration, so they too would be blessings (perhaps in ...
Wait; didn’t we already celebrate Independence Day? Didn’t we already enjoy the fireworks and the parades, remembering with gratitude the brave patriots who sacrificed for our freedom? Yes, we did, but there is another Independence Day that the grace of God has made available to each of ...
Mary was a member of a previous church that I served, and any time a political conversation began, she would say the same thing: “It’s not polite to talk about religion or politics in mixed company.” For Mary, talking about religion and politics together was particularly ...
WASHINGTON — Black clergy who know Vice President Kamala Harris, now the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, marvel at the fusion of traditions and teachings that have molded her religious faith and social justice values. A Baptist married to a Jewish man, she’s ...
The thought of Jesus calling us to be fishers of men, I think, is a bad idea. When I was a boy, I caught my friend Eddy Wilson in the back of the head with a hook and sinker. He was not very happy with me, nor was I happy about catching my friend. Even though I have been a life-long ...
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Shalom Korai never knew his real name or his birthday. He was saved from the streets of a burning Warsaw neighborhood while he was a toddler during World War II, when the rest of his family was killed by Nazis in Poland. He grew up and lived in Israel with no idea ...
