Archives for 2012

With all their obvious diversity, what did these 22 people in last Saturday's Houston Chronicle have in common? In essence, it was their humanity. They were all human beings, descendants of Adam. The word "adam" comes from adamah, the Hebrew word for "dirt." In the Bible, this same word refers both to the species (humankind, earthlings, mud-people) and, with reference to the Creation story, to the first individual of that sort whom God made. As humans, these 22 men and women in my Saturday newspaper all were made from physical elements of the earth. So, of course, are we -- and all animal … [Read more...]

For Saturday breakfast, I sometimes pick up two chicken-biscuits at the drive-through, which Sara Faye and I both enjoy with a cup of hot tea while reading the morning's Houston Chronicle. This weekend the paper featured an interesting group of 22 very ordinary people who were brought together by a common experience. The group included three Hispanics, three African-Americans and 16 Anglos but their experience had nothing to do with their race. There were 13 men and nine women, clearly not united by gender. Nor were they bound together by age. Although their average age was 69, slightly past … [Read more...]

Jesus came to give abundant life, a gift that is not measured by physical health or material prosperity (John 10:10). It is life in fellowship with the Creator, life that continually bubbles up like an artesian well from a hidden, inner source (John 7:38-39). This life produces peace and joy that are undefeatable and that can thrive despite any circumstance. I am not speaking of shallow emotions, but of a spiritual awareness and assurance which are far deeper, and which can thrive even in the midst of tears. To tell the truth, I have found that the only person in the world who can steal my … [Read more...]

As a senior in college, I lived alone and off-campus without radio or television in my room. In the resulting silence my mind played some peculiar games. As I lay in bed at night, for several weeks the question kept coming into my head, "How do I know that I am me and that my life is real? What if my entire perceived life is really only the dream of a Chinese peasant living on a sampan in the Yangtze River?" These recurring thoughts troubled me considerably. I was glad when they stopped and I felt comfortably real again. It seems to me that my moments of psychological disorientation back in … [Read more...]

We know in our heads that we cannot take life for granted because the Bible says so, but we learn it in our hearts through experience on the ground. During the past three days, I have received three reminders that our earthly life at its best is both fragile and brief. Two reminders took the form of emails, bringing word of friends who have received devastating diagnoses. The other was a phone call reporting the death of a relative. It is evidence of godly wisdom for us to pause at such news and to reflect with sober mind on the lessons it has to teach. The first word came as a prayer … [Read more...]