The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!" Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." -- John 12:12-15 NIV via BibleGateway.com Over last night's dinner, our family debriefed Palm Sunday … [Read more...] about Holy Week looking toward Easter
big questions
Do you have a confession to make?
Since the beginning of Lent, our family's reflected upon the tension between sin and a pure heart as found in Psalm 51. One morning, we walked through the Gospel message and explored the question of whether sin makes sense to our friends at school. In Lancaster County, PA, there remains a significant cultural memory of sin. But most campuses lack the memory/framework to discuss sin. On Wednesday, I heard concerns regarding spiritual dullness shared by representatives from three campuses in the Mid-Atlantic. … [Read more...] about Do you have a confession to make?
Reflecting on Ash Wednesday
Do Lenten practices or conversations regarding them give you the feeling that Big Brother is Watching like Locaccino, a location tracking system being developed/used at Carnegie Mellon University? Click here to see a Chronicle of Higeher Ed video. OR does our Lenten journey point to and live in the reality of the preciousness of Christ's blood: … [Read more...] about Reflecting on Ash Wednesday
Preparing for the Lenten Journey
Today's Fastnacht Day in PA Dutch Country (referred to by other traditions/regions, some with much more enthusiastic traditions, as Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday) and the celebration of it emphasizes stuffing our bodies with wants before entering the sacrificial lock down of the religious practice of Lent. By contrast I look at Lent from the radical, relational lens of seeking God the Father -- one shared by the people of God throughout the Biblical story -- finding its fulfillment in Jesus the Christ through … [Read more...] about Preparing for the Lenten Journey
Reading the Mind of God
How do you properly respect and frame the work of one who has courageously pressed on with his life despite the diagnosis of ALS (1962 at the age of 21), discovered black-hole evaporation (1974), contributed the most to our understanding of gravity since Einstein, and achieved world-wide fame while searching for a complete theory of everything which he claims will reveal the mind of God?* I ask that question quite literally as I've been thinking about what to write regarding Stephen Hawking for several weeks. Quite … [Read more...] about Reading the Mind of God