Tuesday is all Saints day in the Western church, and like so many things in our faith life, what we understand upon hearing the word ‘saint’ has little to do with what our scriptures meant by it. Our understanding of saints is now way too big or way too small. We make saints too big…
Today’s reading from the letter of Paul to the Galatians is not a feel good Bible verse quoted a lot for motivational speeches or weddings. I won’t be reading it at Hagop and Angie’s wedding later today, and you won’t be seeing it cross-stitched on any pillow or t-shirt any time soon. Yet the verse…
There are several challenging passages in the Bible where we learn what God hates. These are hard to square for all of us who know and pray to a loving God. How could God who Himself is love-hate-which seems love’s very opposite? Well just as bright light casts a shadow, so is love accompanied by…
Today’s feast is nothing less than our yearly, tangible reminder of who belongs in first place. In the blessing of the grapes we carry on the Old Testament commandment of God that whatever is first; first born child, first born animal, first fruits of harvest, these belong to God. As grapes were always the first…
‘Can I, can I, can I….’ If you are a parent or spent any time around kids, you have been through this phase with your children. It seems from our youngest days we are hardwired to seek and test the boundaries of what we can and can’t do; it’s how we learn and grow and…
We have a strong system of higher education in the United States, which also has significant problems in need of reform. The most obvious problem we all see about college is its price tag. ‘College is the opposite of kidnapping. They demand $100,000 from you or else they’ll send your kid back!’ College gets lots…
As you may know, I like to have a joke in my sermons from time to time. I recently found out that today on Easter Sunday, it is even more appropriate. It is actually a long standing tradition in some Eastern Orthodox churches for the priests to come prepared with a joke on Easter Sunday.…