This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. It will likely be a holiday that we won’t soon forget as all of the restrictions of the pandemic continue to restrain us from our normal gatherings and activities. In fact, some of us may have a hard time thinking of what there is to give thanks for! And yet […]
Rise from sleep, day has come, now are the hours of the sun. Time to work, time to plod, turning hand to till the clod. Dirt beneath stomping feet, Plow-crushed earth smelling sweet. Rock and thorn Causing pain, Fields of mud in pouring rain. Muddled furrows, hard to see where seed will sprout and plant […]
There is a sadness that feels cold, And forgets that light is not dead When hurt and regret are thus wed In the human problem of old. Grey shadows stretch across his path, The sun from the horizon beams, Hues of red upon the world gleams, The town falls in a scarlet bath. He stops […]
By now I hope you’ve received a copy of the Fall 2020 issue of the Serious Joy Newsletter. (You can read an electronic version here; if you’d like a print version, let us know—we’d be happy to send you one). This issue highlights our distinctive approach to seminary education as a pastoral apprenticeship and features […]
In high school, I learned a valuable lesson about the difference between know-how and know-of. I was part of the track team, and my coach asked me to fill in for a vacancy for the 400m race. My regular races were the 100m and 200m. I, of course, knew of the 400m race. I had […]
Psalm 2 1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the […]
It was a hot September day, and the town was humming with its usual rhythm of activity—not too busy, not too loud, simply the everyday flow of people living, working, helping each other, and mostly minding their own business. I would tell you the name of the town, but you would never find it on a map, […]
The election next week is probably one of the most consequential ones in our lifetime. That may sound like an overstatement, but with the two main political parties veering farther apart, the choices become more significant with each passing election. It appears to me that Christians are more divided, more perplexed, and more torn heading […]
Northward, ever northward, despite the chilly blast, despite the failure of the light, my heart is drawn at last. Southward, sometimes southward, warm climates call my name, tropic heat and days of ease, draw me with the same. But northward, always northward, I am called again, to the popples and the pines, to lands of […]