My childhood dog would perch on the couch in front of the window to watch and wait for my Mom to come home. Such faithfulness can inspire us at Advent.
Story Subject: hope
Tea & Cookies with Protestors: Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu was still trying to bring down Apartheid in the mid-eighties. The powers that be hired protestors to try to smear Tutu, but he ended up sharing a tea party with them.
Standing Amid the Ruins of a Concentration Camp
Visiting a concentration camp means feeling the suffering that calls out from the ground. It means remembering that so many Christians chose to wait passively and that we must make different choices.
Looking for Christ in Christian Nationalism
Christian Nationalism means one group’s notion of Christianity holds power regardless of what the majority want. It can even mean a dictatorship.
Adam & Eve Wonder: Is the Night Endless?
In the far north, they have days of all night and all day. Maybe Adam & Eve were afraid the first time they saw the sun go down. Would it ever return?
The Impact of the Title “King of the Jews” on Herod the Great & Caesar Augustus
Only gentiles called Jesus “King of the Jews.” The Herods and the Caesars claimed many titles for themselves, but they perpetually felt their power threatened.
The Stories We Tell about our Enemies
A West African proverb: until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero. Hearing the stories, the understandings, the circumstances of those we disagree with is the path to peace along the way of Christ.
Fight Smarter, Not Harder: Sir Isaac Brock
In the War of 1812, British officer Isaac Brock tricked American General William Hull into thinking that Brock had huge amounts of troops. Brock took Fort Detroit with minimal casualties and a fighting force of half the size.
A Martyr to End Slavery: Rev. Elijah Parish Lovejoy
Elijah Parish Lovejoy was a minister and journalist who felt called to fight slavery. He refused to stop speaking out, to stop writing, to give up his cause. He was murdered by a pro-slavery mob.
The War to End All Wars: World War I
They called it “the war to end all wars,” but even before it ended, a British politician remarked: “This war, like the next war, is a war to end [all] war.”