Maybe 2024 was a wonderful year for you, filled with health, happiness, bounty and prosperity. Perhaps you felt like the psalmist David, so overwhelmed with the blessings of God that he could barely contain himself, singing: “From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy” (Psalm 65:8 NLT). And amid those […]
Category Archives: Hope
Our Christmas decorations are finally out and up and, like always, there was plenty to do. The tree was purchased, white lights were strung (inside and out), wreaths with red bows were hung, and the multiple nativity scenes were set up on book shelves, table tops and credenzas. Our holiday pillows were thrown, candles placed, […]
The story is told in Mark’s gospel of Jesus and his “inner core” of Peter, James and John taking a walk up a high mountain where Jesus was “transfigured.” The voice of God spoke from a cloud that covered them and confirmed what Jesus’ miracles were pointing to all along: “This is my Son, whom […]
I attended a vigil with the Congregation Ahavath Chesed at their Temple in Jacksonville. It was a moving ceremony remembering the eleven people killed and several wounded at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, gunned down by the automatic weapons fire of a hate-filled man who said, when apprehended, that “all […]
What are you passionate about? I got a kick out of watching the recent FIFA World Cup (pun intended). I mean, here I am living in the Southland mecca of college football, with a local NFL team to boot (pun again), and I thought I knew what passionate fandom is all about. There’s no doubt […]
I’ve had an ongoing correspondence with a man about spiritual things. We met under unusual circumstances and I learned, in a very tense and difficult situation, that this man identifies as a Christian. So do I. That led to a series of letters that started when he first reached out to me by “snail mail,” […]
I’m on the eve of another birthday. I can’t say I mind, but it is striking to contemplate being on the downslope of my 50s, barreling full-speed toward the big “six-oh”. Thinking about birthdays over the years hasn’t been too troublesome for me, but I do remember feeling a bit “rocked” when I turned 30. Seems […]
I’m not a fan of horror movies. In the few I have seen, I found myself shielding my eyes and even trying to stop my ears. It is rather embarrassing cowering next to my wife who, although not a fan of the genre either, stares at the screen through every gory detail. A Field Trip […]
I have a friend and law partner who is a very smart guy. His academic pedigree is impressive enough, but his insightful brilliance and careful attention to detail have earned him a well-deserved reputation as a top-shelf transactional lawyer. When discussing a deal, or even some deep, spiritual topic, he has a practice of giving […]
In his classic work Walden, Henry David Thoreau wrote that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” It’s a phrase oft-repeated that resonates with many, but the observation, though insightful, has hardly been the stuff of empirical data. That may be changing. Nobel-laureate and Princeton Professor of Economics, Sir Angus Deaton, and his […]