Christmas--- for many individuals, this word evokes feelings of exhaustion, worry, and dread. The holiday season can be filled with endless activities, such as preparing food for gatherings, attending pageants and concerts, and wrapping up end-of-the-year responsibilities. On top of these tasks, many anguish over choosing the perfect Christmas gifts, or become troubled over the fact that they do not have the adequate means to buy such gifts. And while Christmastime is often an occasion to gather with loved ones, it can also be a time of remembering those whom we’ve lost or those with whom we are now estranged. Christmas is by no means a word that conjures celebration for everyone.Read more

I have to confess, I don’t miss being a teenager.  Adolescence can be filled with all kinds of awkward and confusing moments.  Once you reach 13, you’re too old to be a kid, but too young to be an adult.  Overnight, new pimples appear in horrifying places.  And Susie, who was your best friend forever last week, won’t speak to you this week.  To top things off, that cute boy that you have a crush on doesn’t even know that you exist. For me, as for most adults I know, these kinds of events during adolescence were enough to elicit a retreat into a deep, dark hole of despair.  Whether I (in my state of teenage misery) was alone in my room or present with others, there was sure to be plenty of obvious sighing, slouching and forlorn grimacing.  Read more

At my very core, I am an adventure seeker.  I don’t necessarily mean this in the sense that I enjoy action-packed theme park rides or death-defying undertakings.  In fact, I’m probably not your go-to person for stomach-turning, terror-evoking exploits.  But I do believe in exploring the unknown.  Perhaps this is because, as a Christian, I’ve endeavored to embrace Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19.  There, Jesus adjures the remaining eleven disciples to “go” and “make disciples of all nations.”   In considering this instruction and the individuals who have followed it, I have come to a certain understanding regarding the Christian life.  As a Christ follower, it seems that life sometimes includes taking risks, exploring uncharted avenues, and traveling to far-off places.  And even though I seek out and mostly enjoy all of these things, I occasionally have a longing (and even a need) to revisit familRead more

Every Thursday, I drive through the back roads of town, park outside of a three story enchanted-looking house, and climb the stairs to the third floor apartment.  In that space, I meet with a familiar group of friends.  After catching up on the events of the week, we settle into a discussion related to a certain Bible passage, usually lingering over the questions that draw us in the most.  Presently, my friends and I are considering the book of Proverbs and discussing its meaning for the individual living within her or his community.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, we have been unable to ignore the pervasive theme of the adulteress in the first several chapters.  But in recent weeks, our discussion on this topic has led us in a direction that we did not expect.  

Instead of analyzing the intricacies of deception or critiquing the ill judgment of the one allured, have we asked ourselves, “How can the church help stem the tide of relational brokenness that we see in the world today?”  In response to this question, one group member noted the intense feelings of loneliness that persist among singles in particular.  Read more

“Do you want to get well?”  This may have seemed like a silly question for Jesus to ask a person lying ill for 38 years.  After all, the answer appears obvious.  Who would choose to struggle against persistent sickness, when an offer of healing was available?  Why watch others receive the soothing balm when you, in your own flesh, could be cured?  Surely the man near the pool of Bethesda wanted what Jesus was offering—a life of restored physical health, or more simply, just to walk again. 

In many ways, I can deeply relate to this first century story.  Although physically well, I battle other chronic ills, more spiritual and emotional in nature.  I ache for the friend who has turned away from God and I cry over the pain of unmet desires.  I pray to God about desperate and seemingly desperate situations, but sometimes I don’t hear anything in return.  I occasionally feel what C.S. Lewis described when he was swimming in the grief of his wife’s death.  Hoping to find God in his own despair, Lewis found “a door slammed in [his] face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside.  After that, silence.”1   This is hardly the response one hopes to get when all resources are depleted and the last Kleenex used. 
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Over the last two weeks, I’ve developed a new ritual with my housemates.  At the end of a long day, we convene on the balcony of our second floor apartment that overlooks a small portion of a quaint Hew Haven neighborhood.  One person lights fragrant candles, which provide warmth against the coming darkness.  Another unveils savory treats.  A third configures the chairs such that conversation can flourish.  Then, each in turn reveals her best and worst moments of the day.  Endearingly (if somewhat playfully and youthfully), we’ve come to call this time ‘roses and thorns.’ 

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From the moment one drives onto the campus of West Point Military Academy, it is clear that duty, honor and country suffuse the atmosphere.  While recently visiting this establishment, I was struck by the meticulously manicured grounds, the breathtakingly beautiful view of the HudRead more

Certain situations are more pervasive than they first seem.   Perhaps this is what artist Norman Rockwell was trying to convey in his 1964 portrait of Ruby Bridges entitled, “The Problem We All Live With.”  Not long ago, I stood in front of this portrayal of a six-year-old African American girl.&#Read more

In the dark recesses of the night, I sometimes lie awake and contemplate questions which turn inside my head.  “What it means to be human” is at the forefront of my most recent pondering.  This question is a hot topic among various disciplines and I have decided to explore this question in my own study of bioethics over the next several years.  I find this particular question probing amidst the backdrop of advancing technology in fields such as science and medicine.  “What can be done with regard to humans?” is quickly being followed by, “What should be done with humans?”  The answers, in short, are myriad. 

As a Christian who is preparing to give a reasoned response to these questions, I am excited about the intellectual aspect of my journey.  I marvel over the fact that loving God includes engaging one’s mind.  But even at this juncture, before the tasks surrounding my studies begin, I understand that the exploration of what it means to be human occurs while living alongside humanity.  No matter how technologically advanced our world may become, I cannot escape the fact that people are at the heart of what it means to be human.  My upcoming intellectual pursuits are important, yet they serve to inform my living among particular individuals.  At the same time, there are certain individuals who will color my approach to the question of what it means to be human.  The two are inextricably linked.  Read more