Jamini Roy’s “Madonna and Child”
Sermon Text from Luke 1:39-56
Last week we began this sermon series with a non-Christian sculpture beautifully and painstakingly carved by a non-Christian artist. The church was most likely the furthest thing from Bill Reid’s...
A Closer Look at Christmas: My Take
Merry Christmas, everyone! Alleluia! Christ is born to us.
I know that sounds like a strange greeting in February, but in some Christian traditions the season of Christmas actually runs from December 25 all the...
Sandy Hook Revisited
It’s hard to believe that three years have passed since Adam Lanza gunned down 20 elementary school children, 6 of their teachers, and his mother. Even harder to fathom is that, three years on,...
Merry Christmas by Langston Hughes
This poem accompanied the sermon, "Making Peace."
MERRY CHRISTMASby Langston HughesPublished In New Masses (Dec. 1930)
Merry Christmas, ChinaFrom the gun-boats in the river,Ten-inch shells for Christmas gifts,And peace on earth forever.Merry Christmas, India,To Gandhi...
Making Peace
A version of this sermon was preached at the First Baptist Church of Hyattsville on Sunday, December 6, 2015. The Scripture texts were Malachi 3.1-4 and Luke 1.67-79. Accompanying the biblical texts was a reading of Langston...
Onward Into Christmas
Onward into Christmas? It’s January 6th. Schools are back in session. There isn’t a silver bell or a red cup to be found. This post is a little late, don’t you think? Shouldn’t you...
Christmas (Faraway, So Close): A Meditation for Epiphany
The Christmas music has faded. The Christmas lights are slowly but surely going dark and coming down. Today we watch the Wise Men arrive in Bethlehem and then depart by another road. In a...
Christian Hissstory
I was wrapping up my work-from-home day a few weeks ago when my three-year-old daughters wandered into the bedroom and piled onto the loveseat where I was studying. They started leafing through my Bibles,...
Candlemas is Come at Last
I’ve been reading about Candlemas this past week: the celebration of Christ’s presentation in the Temple forty days after His birth. I’ve read the story from Luke 2.22-40 many times. What I did not...
