Culture

Years ago, I did a short stint as a secretary for a stately old church near downtown Norfolk, Virginia. It was a quite a building. The mahogany wood work in the chapel and vivid stained-glass windows depicting Biblical tales inspired awe. Crimson velvet pews flanked a traditional center aisle. The lofty ceiling produced magnificent sounds—an […]

“Give me liberty or give me death,” was the infamous cry of Patrick Henry just prior to the Revolutionary War. Something deep inside the human heart seeks freedom. Freedom from tyrannical oppression. Freedom from control. Freedom from conscience. Freedom from consequence. Freedom from pain, guilt, and sin. Freedom…from God. As with most human desires, the quest […]

“I’m livin’ for May! I’m livin’ for May!” I said, more times than I could count. Back in January and February, this mantra played like a broken record in my mind. I would mouth the words to a fellow mom across the pews in our homeschool co-op, deep into an afternoon grammar class as my […]

A crisis can bring out the best in people, or it can bring out the worst. We’ve all seen examples of the worst. A friend of mine, Steve, was in an international airport trying to get home on the very day the borders were closed in Europe from COVID-19. He saw a lot of the […]

Shakespeare told us to beware the ides of March. The Bard was no prophet, but this March brought us an international pandemic accompanied by an economic tsunami like none we’ve ever seen. In an effort to save those valuable, vulnerable souls who are at risk and to preserve our health care system, we’ve initiated a […]

I was issued a set of army fatigues to fit my burgeoning belly. At seven months pregnant, I was being transferred to a battle station. All the soldiers on the transports were lying flat on their backs. How curious. When I woke, my spirit was on alert. I asked my women’s Bible study for extra […]

Do you ever wonder why Scripture tells us to count it all joy when we face various trials and tribulations in life? (James 1:2-4) Joy is an odd response to hardship and suffering. And yet our faith promises us that God is committed to doing good when the enemy intends harm. (Genesis 50:20) God is […]

The word lays like a time bomb, ticking away. It could explode at any moment.  It is divisive and polarizing.  It has both political origins and religious connotations, making it a double-jeopardy topic to steer clear of at social gatherings.  To some, it is a label that advances righteous causes and promises to liberate. To […]

There were eight of us gathered around the table for a catered dinner at the house of my husband’s boss. The small talk was pleasant and expected. Nothing riveting or even interesting, really.  Then out of nowhere, someone mentioned the wall. Not the dining room wall or the wall in the hallway—the wall along the […]

There were three channels, four if you counted public television. And at some point during the night, the screen resembled snow. We couldn’t watch a movie that wasn’t in a theater. We couldn’t listen to our favorite song if we didn’t own it on vinyl or cassette. There were no tablets, at least not the […]