He looked down at the dried-out pot roast, hidden by lumpy gravy. The asparagus was limp to exhaustion from over cooking. At least the potatoes and carrots were okay, coated with a layer of brown drippings. How could she have ruined pot roast, she asked herself. It was the one fail-safe meal – according to […]
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A friend of mine routinely says, “Keep the victory,” as his goodbye. What he means by that, I never bothered to ask. I figured I knew but now I question this. That phrase came back to me as I read Psalm 98. Psalm 98 Once again, in Psalm 98, we are called to sing a […]
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Two great teams from two great schools in one great state. So why can’t they just get along? Because they are like siblings, constantly competing against each other, seeking attention. Within the confines of family, we fight. We may have disagreements, but to the rest of the world, especially our kids, we put up a […]
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Sunrises over a mountain, the changing seasons, a baby’s laugh, some things never get old. No matter how many times we see the sun rise, it still inspires awe. No matter how many times we watch the changing seasons come and go, they remain a wonder. We hear a baby laugh and the sound still […]
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A friend, told that I was writing a series of short meditations on marriage, put the question to me: “Have you written about forgiveness yet?” Well … uh … maybe tomorrow. I suppose the easiest thing I could observe about forgiveness is that no marriage could survive without a good deal of it going both […]
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Psalm 96: Sing a New Old Song Whenever unsure about what song to write, musicians frequently look to old songs and do remakes. Remakes of old songs are often sure hits. Sometimes they surpass the popularity of the original. Sometimes the original is forgotten entirely. We may be surprised to learn a song we love […]
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We each have bad spells—bad days, bad weeks, bad months, even bad years when everything seems to go wrong, nothing works out the way we want it. The fact of being married doesn’t mean these bad periods coincide. One spouse’s good days can help alleviate, or at least put into perspective, the other’s bad day. […]
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My favorite images of heaven and hell come from C.S. Lewis in his books, The Great Divorce, and the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle. Those in hell choose hell. They become smaller and smaller and further isolated from others. They are but specters. In heaven, everything is bigger and more […]
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In Homer’s Odyssey, Penelope worked at her loom while awaiting Ulysses’ return. By day she worked, by night she took apart what she had done in the day so that she would not finish until he came home. Marriage can be like a tapestry woven by two people. If there is a flaw in the […]
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“O Lord, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth!” (94:1) So begins Psalm 94, but what is this vengeance? Is God’s vengeance the same as human vengeance? Psalm 94 Psalm 94 is a lament in two parts. The first fifteen verses comprise a lament of the community against evildoers who oppress the most vulnerable […]
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