Advent: the season of waiting has begun. Over the four weeks leading to Christmas, the tradition for Christians is to wait, to prepare, and to anticipate the coming of Christ. Even amid the commercialization of Christmas, our spiritual practice is to pause, be still, and experience quiet as we wait.… Read More »Advent: The Waiting Begins
The Christmas holiday is here. As the old standard conveys, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Around the world, Christmas festivities are bold and bright as people sing and spread good cheer. But this year, in the midst of a global pandemic, Christmas is just not the same… Read More »Practical and Wise: Joseph and Christmas 2020
I follow the news pretty closely. Thanks to online websites, I follow about ten news sites every day, many from outside of the US. I like to be informed. But staying informed comes at a price. Much of the news from around the world is not hopeful. I don’t need… Read More »Keeping Christ in Christmas: It’s All About You
How can things go so badly? I suspect most people have asked a question like that during 2020. There are the pandemic and the cascade of problems that have come with it like economic hardship, unemployment, disruption of education from pre-K through university life, businesses closing offices with people now… Read More »The Christmas Story and 2020
It’s an experience many of us have had this past year. For me, the process took about a week. I found the website for my state listing all of the testing centers. Each center had a separate link with different hours of operations and appointments available. It took me about… Read More »Waiting
The Christmas wrapping has been torn off the presents. The needles from the pine tree are beginning to fall. Perhaps it’s just my imagination, but the holiday light displays seem to have a bit less glimmer than just a few days ago. Christmas Day has passed. Now upon us are… Read More »The Day After Christmas
I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled to different parts of the world. Since much of the travel was work-related, I’d often be on my own. I explored new places by myself and tried to learn about the local cultures by simply being there. During one trip to Mexico City,… Read More »Hidden Lives and Christmas
Memory is a funny thing. Some events in my life stand out very clearly. Others…. well, let’s just say they’ve faded into the recesses of my mind. There is one memory that stands out after more than forty years: the day I met Fred Rogers. I was 19 or 20… Read More »Meeting Fred in the Neighborhood