I don’t know if you have noticed, but we tend toward a Good Friday kind of faith. Even on Christmas. You see it in Christmas ornaments featuring crosses. It always strikes me most strongly when we sing the Appalachian Christmas Carol, “I Wonder as I Wander”: I wonder as I wander out under the sky, […]
The Secret to Living Comfortably in Stressful Times (Heidelberg Catechism Q. 1)
Christmas is a week away. The stress level is getting a tad high. We long for just a few comfortable moments. Actually living in comfort seems way out of reach. There is the front burner stuff: shopping wrapping, cooking, parties. Or maybe it is the opposite front burner stuff: no money to shop with nobody […]
Yes, Children, There Is a Santa Claus. Really.
When I was a pastor, one Sunday in Advent I called the kids forward for the children’s sermon. I told my three-to-seven-year-old congregation Today I’m going to tell you the truth about Santa Claus. Usually the kids were pretty wriggly. This time the parents were squirming. Here is what I told them. Long, long ago, […]