You’ve heard the proverb, “You can’t go home again.” Can prodigal daughters and sons go back to God after they have run away for a long time? Am I talking about you? Or maybe someone you know? How do you get back with God? What if it’s been years, or Read more…
As you have figured out by now, life is not a sprint. It is a marathon. And just as our bodies physically don’t bounce back as quickly from exertion or illness as they used to, I think our spirits lose some elasticity as the years roll on too. Persistent disappointments Read more…
Some days I am certain that there is no justice. Yesterday I received a parking ticket even though I had paid to park. And I keep getting incorrectly billed exorbitant amounts by a certain local company whose retail manager admits that the billing is incorrect. How about you? Do you Read more…
You know, of course, that there are support groups for abusers, just as there are for alcoholics. Batterers Anonymous has done some great things to help violence-prone people to grow in the grace of self-control. But you don’t have to be physically violent to have an anger problem. Persistently angry Read more…
One of the benefits of being a kid in a multiple-child family is that you learn to take abuse. Not that that’s good—but it is helpful. We all need to develop some coping skills for deflecting and shedding put-downs, while still preserving our self-confidence. But sometimes nasty arrows get past Read more…
I used to visit a sweet little old man named Alex. He was a dear guy, but pretty self-centered, with a perpetually gloomy outlook. At some point in every conversation he would say, “Ah, I’m no good no more.” He saw no purpose in his continuing existence. He had defined Read more…
“Keep Hope Alive” was Jesse Jackson’s campaign slogan when he ran for president in 1988. And yet those words are more than just throwaway political placards and yard signs. Social change is impossible in communities that have given up. America’s inner cities need to keep believing in America’s central promise Read more…