A Christian Voice for Today's Challenges
The following biblical verses are recognized for their inspirational and affirmational qualities within the scripture. One day Jesus gathered his disciples on a mountainside and preached to them about the kingdom of God and how to find a sense of blessedness in the way they live their lives. These few lines, simple and straight forward, … Read more
The ‘snow birding’ Johnsons returned home from Florida last Friday to their lakefront retreat, much to the chagrin of the geese who obviously had their way with our property for the winter months. The grass was green and needed a mow. Tree branches, winter’s debris, were strewn all over the lawn, but the white dogwood … Read more
There is a resounding line from the Palm Sunday account of Jesus’ entry into all the commotion and conflict in Jerusalem that never gets silenced. As Luke presents it in chapter nineteen, the crowds, filled with factions, are going crazy. One of my favorite Palm Sunday hymns is called The Palms, composed by Jean-Baptista Faure, … Read more
Lois was more of a fan of the television series Yellowstone than I, (she wants a “Don’t Get Beth Dutton-ed” coffee mug), but together, we are keen on the prequels, “1883” and “1923,” the last episode of which dropped on April 6, 2025. We loved the character of Elsa in “1883” and were brokenhearted to … Read more
It is the week of the ‘Masters’ at Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia. professional golf’s most prestigious tournament. The Golf Channel broadcasts daily a show called “Live from the Masters,” which includes interviews, analyses, and statistically projected outcomes. Lois and I were lucky enough to have landed tickets twice, once for Wednesday’s “Family … Read more
March Madness is upon us. The NCAA Division One men’s and women’s basketball championships await the frenzy of their respective Final Fours this weekend. All the broken brackets and bad bets hang in the balance and the excitement and unpredictability of the tournament are charged with the competitive spirit of a nation obsessed with the … Read more
Our son and daughter-in-law, Peter and Brianna, are truly kind and generous at sending us videos of Cole and allowing for almost daily periods of facetime with him. If I had a nickel for every time Lois replays a video and remarks, “He makes me laugh,” I would be a rich man, During advent, we … Read more
I was not entirely satisfied with how I ended my Ash Wednesday Lenten blog post. You may recall, I closed with a quote from the Reverend William Sloane Coffin: When you see uncaring people in high places, everybody should be mad as hell. If you lessen your anger at the structures of power, he said, … Read more
Today is March 5, 2025, Ash Wednesday, a holy day that marks the beginning of Lent for most Christians. Ashes symbolize repentance, humility, death and sacrifice, core themes for the forty-day and forty-night Lenten period of preparation for Easter. Forty days is no brief period, especially when they are the days spent by Jesus in … Read more
Last year I celebrated my nineteenth ‘real’ birthday on February twenty-ninth. Yes, I am a leap year baby. In fact, I am a leap year twin, and I have in my office at home in Connecticut a New Haven Register account and a photo of that happy event. My mother often repeated the story about … Read more