I expected him to come with wailing. Instead, he came with eyes open wide in quiet wonder. I now know that raw joy feels like a warm, squirming life clutched naked to the chest. It is alive and more beautiful than you’ve imagined.
 
He pulled a tiny fist to his mouth as his steely blue eyes met my own. We stared at one another, him blinking thoughtfully, me babbling words of delight and praise—my speech suddenly reduced to the stammered fragments of a child. I admired his long slender fingers, his soft skin, his head of downy dark hair. And my eyes bounced between his and my husband’s, like light dancing on the water on a still day.
 
When I suddenly remembered it was Sunday, nothing could have felt more fitting. For when you’ve prayed like Hannah, and been given a gift of grace like Samuel, holding that long-awaited treasure makes your heart swell with the gratitude and worship of a thousand Sundays. And you know deep within that this gift is a gift that can only be quickly offered back to the Giver in praise and adoration.
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The curse resonates.

I'm part of a bible study/discussion group, focused around the content of a workbook on sexuality & emotions, which has participants from across the spectrum.  We have folks who are vague theists; men and women who are married and who are single; people who are living together; folks who are committed believers; representatives spanning 4 decades (20s to 50s), from Asian, African, and Caucasian descent, and with a PhD, Master's degrees, college, some college, and no college.
It's a really unusual group.

Last Tuesday evening we read through Genesis 3, and the strangest thing happened.  The curse:  "her desire shall be for her husband and he shall rule over her" resonated with everyone.Read more

My wife and I have lived in Washington, DC, for the past three years.  Shortly after we moved here, we casually picked up the first season of LOST on DVD.  Drawn by the reaction our friends were having to the show, we thought it would be a good way to unwind at the end of a long day – but at first, it was not that at all.  Enraptured by the strange twists and the desire to learn more about the characters, we would watch anywhere from (at least) 2 to 5 episodes at a time.  Now, shortly before we move from this city, we have wrapped up the series in last night’s finale.  It is certainly a show I would associate with our life in DC, and it has probably enlightened our own definition of the word “lost” while here in this city.Read more

 Do you struggle with envy? Nobody wants to admit this--especially Christians. And yet if you are anything like me, you know what it is like to see another person and covet his looks, his salary, his friends (real, not Facebook), or his talents. Paul may have been speaking of material possessions when he instructed Timothy, "godliness with contentment is great gain," but the application is much more broad. If we are not content with the gifts God has given us then we are, fundamentally, not content with the God who gave us those gifts.

The psalmist's honesty in Psalm 73 is overwhelming. He admits his struggle with envy: "For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (v. 3).Read more

When I moved to Western PA the summer of 2004, I thought I was settling in Center Township. I didn’t realize that I was also settling in Aliquippa. Had I known this at the time, I might have been off-put; as it is, I feel that God was locating me here to be part of his unfolding mission of love for this little corner of his world.Read more

Though we may think otherwise from time to time, the heart of the medical profession is very much a mission of sacrifice and service for the sick. And medical school, at least for me, has provided opportunities to explore creative ways to serve the poor and forgotten. Recently, I joined a medical team offering a free Saturday clinic in Laredo, Texas and got a glimpse of what this calling might look like in my life. The organization was called “Hands and Feet” reflecting the fact that as we go out in Christian service, we become representatives for Jesus. In fact, each Christian is a hand, foot (or ear, eye, etc.) in the body Christ (1 Cor. 12), so it makes since that these members been seen out in the world. So, with these feet we walked the streets of Laredo, going door to door inviting neighbors to come get a free check-up or to get something done about that cough.Read more

A few months ago, Marva rang my doorbell. When I opened the door she introduced herself, and told me she was looking for some work to do. She explained that she had done some cleaning and outside work for other folks in my neighborhood, and wondered if I might have something for her. She was sick, she said, and needed money for medicine. She did not look well. She was very thin, and her face was scarred and drawn.

I couldn't think of anything at that moment that I needed, so I asked her what sorts of things she'd done for my neighbors. "I could clean your windows," she offered. And I thought, why not? I hadn't cleaned them in some time, and it couldn't hurt. So I walked outside and circled the house with her, counting the windows and agreeing on a price.Read more

The air hung thick and damp on the back porch of Dawn’s exotic fruit farm on the northeast corner of Australia’s Daintree rainforest. I sat on a plastic chair, one foot crossed underneath me, the other dangling a flip flop above the concrete floor of the brightly colored bed and breakfast. I began to think about what this gracefully aging Australian woman with wayward hair had just told me.
 
“Americans live to work. Australians work to live.”
 
With just three weeks left on my 10-week sabbatical on the underside of the world, I began to wonder if these words were true, and if they should mean something to me.Read more