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As we look ahead to the final weeks of summer, we’re reminded that a seasonal shift is upon us. Our Sunday newspapers are littered with ads that boast the best “back-to-school” sales, as our grocery stores beckon us to stock up for “one last summer BBQ.” With cooler, less humid days on the horizon, we prepare to say goodbye to summer and to welcome autumn and all that it brings.
Why are 20 veterans a day taking their own lives? That’s the question the Rev. Tom Davis has been asking since August
2015, when a magazine cover on veteran’s suicides grabbed his attention. After all, he thought, aren’t these the same men and women who fought so hard to stay alive during active duty, as Davis did during his combat service in Vietnam?
For 40 years, the World Hunger Ecumenical Arizona Task Force (WHEAT) has been tackling hunger in the Grand Canyon State through education, advocacy and empowerment. But there is one thing people are consistently surprised that the organization does not do.
Conversion stories are usually told about the moment people accepted their faith. But Alba Rostan’s story is about the experience that deepened her faith in God.
The Synod of Lakes and Prairies is home to 16 presbyteries and nearly 800 churches, all of them in the upper Midwest. One of its presbyteries, Dakota Presbytery, is considered non-geographical but is the oldest presbytery west of the Mississippi River.
Today at 8:15 a.m., the exact time that the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, the Peace Bell at the Hiroshima Peace City Memorial Monument will ring. Residents of the city, whether at the Peace Park or elsewhere in the city, will pause for a minute to pay their respects, to pray for peace and to remember the horrors of war and of nuclear weaponry. Now, 74 years later, this moment of attention still seems like a sensible and prudent thing to do.
On a recent Sunday morning, I learned about the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi. It happened during the children’s time, when the leader held up a broken vase, a cherished family heirloom, that had been glued back together. And rather than a careful repair job that made the vase look like new, the broken places on this vase were highly visible, actually accented with what looked like raised golden paint. When you looked at this vase, you knew that it had been broken, and exactly where it had been broken. Kintsugi teaches that broken objects aren’t things to hide or throw away, but to display with awe, reverence, pride and restoration. The gold-filled cracks of a once-broken item tell a story; they are a testament to a history.
From the door next to their studio just outside of Atlanta, filmmakers David Barnhart and Scott Lansing have been able to watch the comic book kingdom of Wakanda come to life and iconic cars of “The Fast and the Furious” in full chase.
As Christians, this is the promise toward which we live, but it’s not just an eschatological hope. It’s God’s vision into which we are called to live daily, supported by our faith in the One who has given himself on our behalf. Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth and the life” — nothing less — and the guide for our daily living. Our Presbyterian predecessors knew this and strove to give concrete meaning to Jesus’ promise in the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which consists of two parts — the “Book of Confessions” and the “Book of Order.” In the “Confessions,” the Larger Catechism instructs us beyond the command “Thou shalt not kill,” adding that we are “to preserve the life of ourselves and others,” in “forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, … requiting good for evil, … protecting and defending the innocent.” It forbids “the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful or necessary means of preservation of life.” As for the command “Thou shalt not steal,” we are called to “endeavor by all just and lawful means to procure, preserve, and further the wealth and outward estate of others, as well as our own.”
While Christopher Hall’s route to success was not always smooth sailing, he says his life’s journey was boosted by a Rising TIDE.
Rising TIDE (Train Individuals to Develop and Excel) is an afterschool ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Long Beach, California. Hall, who was born into poverty in an urban neighborhood, at age 33 owns two construction/restoration businesses, enjoys being a husband and father of three and relishes his new home.
I recently read a sermon by a friend from seminary detailing a harrowing time when insomnia led to migraines, which led to hallucinations. My friend drew on Jesus’ healing of the demoniac in Mark’s Gospel, and explained that Jesus, today, used medical professionals, effective drugs and sabbath rest to return her to health.
