‘Stamen and Salt’: In Memory of Renee Good

‘Stamen and Salt’: In Memory of Renee Good

January 7 began as a normal day for Renee Good.  She packed her six-year-old son into the back seat, along with his lunch and their large dog, and drove him to school. As she drove home, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a group of huddled ICE agents.  She...
Light a Candle in the Darkness

Light a Candle in the Darkness

We are counting the days until Christmas. The gift-giving clock moves inexorably on, seemingly faster and faster.  The Christmas tree needs to be decorated. The infant, evidently a premature birth, is already sleeping peacefully in his crib, surrounded by both...
The Trinity Incarnating

The Trinity Incarnating

Doctrinal wars over the Trinity were conflicts during the early centuries of Christianity to define God as a single being in three coequal, coeternal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These conflicts, particularly the Arian controversy—which saw Jesus...
The Angel of Hebron: Hope in the not-so-Holy Land

The Angel of Hebron: Hope in the not-so-Holy Land

While on a study trip in the holy land, a tour guide told my wife and me about the Angel of Hebron, an obscure story of hope amid ongoing oppression in the land of Israel.  The Ottoman Empire ruled Palestine for over four centuries, from 1516 until its collapse...
Send In the Clowns: Using Farce to Confront Force

Send In the Clowns: Using Farce to Confront Force

The eighth-century BCE prophet Isaiah heard the following words from God: “Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17). They are just as important today as they were almost three millennia ago when the...