A picture of Abraham holding a dagger above Isaac alarmed my granddaughter. “Nana, what is that man doing?” Rachel asked. I explained as best I could to a six-year-old that God...

There is none like you among the gods, O LORD,” the psalmist sings in today’s passage. The God we serve is radically different from all other gods and Caesars and idols....

Journeying through our own times of wilderness can be all-consuming. The anxieties, worries, and fears swirl around us and within us and cloud our vision like a dust storm. This passage...

What does it mean to be baptized not only into Christ’s death but also his resurrection? Oscar Romero, archbishop of El Salvador, lived deeply into this mystery. At a time of...

As Jesus is concluding his instructions to the twelve disciples before sending them out, he warns them about just how costly their discipleship will be. Their new commitments will stir up...

Discipleship has never been easy. The tenth chapter of Matthew chronicles Jesus’ words of advice to the twelve disciples as he sends them out for the first time. At this point,...

At the center of today’s passage is Hagar, an enslaved Egyptian who bore Abraham a son named Ishmael. Because of her status, Hagar occupied a marginal place in society and experienced...

We all experience seasons of life that wring us out. These are times of wilderness where we tread through tangles of uncertainty, pain, frustration, and loss. Seeds of desolation take root...

When I hear a good joke, I can’t wait to share it with others. When I witness other people laughing, I find it hard not to join them. Sometimes the laughter...

Sometimes we think that everything will work out well if God’s grace is with us. Then any opposition we experience is evidence that we are not doing the right thing, as...