The week between Christmas and New Years is filled with all manner of “Year In Review” lists. Biggest news stories, worst movies, best books, that sort of thing. My own 2009 list is a little more…uh…specific. When I think of this year, the list that’s easiest for me to make is that I managed to…

Click here to read Part 1, here for Part 2 and here for Part 3 of this series. At this time of year, the focus is on the Baby. If you focus on the incarnation long enough, you might also find yourself drawn to meditate on the Child’s future – and your own. The longing…

Click here to read Part 1 , and here to read Part 2. Jesus began his ministry with a very audacious-sounding statement of purpose torn right from the sacred scrolls before him: He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his…

Click here to read part one of the series. Jesus and religious insiders The Pharisees’ motto: We do life right! You don’t! Color in the lines. Drive 55 miles per hour. Obey the rules. Be an Eagle Scout. President of the Student Council. And while you’re at it, prom queen. It feels good to be…

We focus on a little Baby during this season. That little Baby came to us on a mission of love: “…the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) I’ve had the opportunity to meditate deeply on just who it is that Jesus loves. Today is part one of…

We climbed into a cab in Jerusalem early one morning and after asking where we were headed, our driver launched into an impassioned monologue about the wrong-headed thinking of some low-level bureaucrat to send the street cleaners off to work at 8 a.m. on a work day. “They should be cleaning the streets in the…