News
This past year our family expanded to a new generation. The precious new addition greatly enhanced our appreciation of the benefits and importance of family. Several articles I read recently also reminded me not only of the importance of family but just how precarious are families in today’s culture.
Once a week for more than a year, homeless men and women have gathered at a Downtown Madison church to talk about a book they’re reading together. The discussion usually starts out focused on the literary topic – stories about faraway places and fictional characters – but regularly wends its way to the gritty reality of living in poverty.
I approach this season with a great sense of responsibility. If God’s plan was to heal and restore and empower through His Son, then I still have lots of work to do. I can’t become tired of the work of social justice, reconciliation, and affirming the dignity of all people. I don’t want to merely preach the message of hope to our hurting world…I want to embody that message. Read More >>
An earnest academic, writing on the Web site Patheos, recently made the case against Santa Claus. Saint Nick is a multicultural nightmare: “A person shouldn’t have to pander to a white man – sit on his lap and beg, even! – to enjoy the good life. . . . If Santa were a refugee, or a woman of color, or even a plant or animal, I could probably get on board.” But Saint Nick’s offense is also religious. He is “in direct competition with God, and it seems Santa may have the upper hand.” “They’re both invisible characters that appear…
You will occasionally hear folks in some passably scenic patch of some other state refer to their little stretch of sod as “God’s Country.” The claim is made everywhere from Northern Georgia to rural Montana to, inexplicably, Alabama. Pretty clearly, none of those folks have ever traveled the back roads atop the Niagara escarpment east of Lake Winnebago that link Jericho to St. Peter to Marytown, and St. Nazianz to St. Anna to Mt. Calvary.
The news media are once again reporting on the Christmas wars, as the Christian faithful rally to protect holiday observances from eroding. The Washington Post has a column by attorney David French from the Patheos Holiday Monitor, which is tracking the War on Christmas across the country. The New York Times also has a column by Ross Douthat called “A Rough Season on Believers.” Both French and Douthat are skilled writers and their columns are well worth reading. But here in Madison the Christmas War raged two decades ago and then largely ended, at least in the…
Two Madison evangelical churches — both among the city’s largest in their heydays — have merged in what church leaders say is an unusual case of congregations uniting instead of splintering. Lake City Church and Mad City Church now will be known as City Church.
The tree is trimmed, and Christmas carols crowd the airwaves. There are presents to wrap and cookies to bake. And wishes of a “Merry Christmas” at every turn. But for many, the holiday is hardly joyous. Whether it’s a death in the family, financial worries or the day-to-day stresses of contemporary American life, Christmas can evoke in many a profound sense of sadness. That reality is drawing the attention of faith leaders, more of whom are beginning to offer “Blue Christmas” services, liturgies intended to acknowledge personal pain in what is touted to be “the most wonderful time of the…
Those who choose to pray find personalized comfort during hard times, according to a University of Wisconsin-Madison sociologist. The 75 percent of Americans who pray on a weekly basis do so to manage a range of negative situations and emotions — illness, sadness, trauma and anger — but just how they find relief has gone unconsidered by researchers.
About half an hour into our bell-ringing shift at Hobby Lobby last week a car alarm began to sound in the parking lot in front of the store. The horn honking and light flashing continued until a lady detached herself from the line at the cash register, walked over to the glass doors, and pressed the button on her fob several times until the noise subsided. It’s Christmas season and the kettle stands are set up in the Hobby Lobby entrance, as well as the doorways of grocery stores, discount stores, drug stores, and other high traffic locations around…