Bruce J. Johnson

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

Lois and I enjoy watching many of the series on television. They stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney +. Our favorites include a few from PBS, such as Downton Abbey, Poldark, Bridgerton, All Creatures Great and Small; another one is the eighty-nine episodes of Everwood on Amazon Prime, or more recently, the six … Read more

Valentine’s Day: “Ordo Amoris” Statements made by the President at the National Prayer Breakfast are like the proverbial gift that keeps on giving! Trump announced proudly that he had issued an order mandating the establishment of a White House Faith Office. Odd name, White House Faith Office, a misnomer maybe? Who has faith in this … Read more

The Book of Proverbs is traditionally attributed to King Solomon and his students, but in fact, it was a collaborative effort over an extended period, written by some pretty wise folks. In recent weeks, I have shared thoughts about my feeling overwhelmed by our shared ‘metaphorical and existential wilderness.’ However, I have found both solace … Read more

President Donald J. Trump attended the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, February 6, 2025. Some reports and social media post said that he was pretending to be Christian. His address to the dutifully assembled was described by The Daily Beast as “careening.” No surprise! That is what he does best. And one of the leading … Read more

During the Christmas holiday, I received a gift from Trip, my college roommate and best friend. The arrival was a newly minted copy of John Feinstein’s book, The Ancient Eight: College Football’s Ivy League and the Game They Play Today. The book is an enjoyable read. Its pages gave me the opportunity to reminisce about … Read more

In my last blog post, also dated January 27, 2025, I quoted from a TED talk about the post-truth era in which we are living. The title of the talk by Yuval Noah Harari was “Are we living in a post-truth era? Yes, but that’s because we’re a post-truth species,” and the quote read: Truth … Read more

The United Church of Christ sends calendars annually to churches and active and retired pastors.  Each Sabbath is accompanied by the appointed lessons for the day along with suggested sermon themes. Significant dates and recurring observances are also noted, such as Orthodox Christmas, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, … Read more

The U.S. flags on federal buildings and some state/municipal buildings are still set at half-staff in compliance with our nation’s thirty-day period of mourning the death of the thirty-nineth President, James Earl Carter Jr. They will remain at half-staff until January 28th., unless President-elect Trump raises them as soon as he takes office. In my … Read more