It is no secret that millions of Americans are suffering from loneliness. There has been an increasing sense of isolation for many since the COVID-19 lockdown. In 2024, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that 30% of adults reported feeling lonely at least once a week.  Perhaps you have felt lonely at some point, maybe you have not, but many around you continue to struggle daily with the search for meaning in their daily lives.

At the age of 6, I summoned sufficient courage to ride a bicycle beyond the protective fence surrounding my home.  As I rode past the neighbor’s gate, two huge menacing dogs slipped through the gate and began to chase after me.  I was terrified, and began to cry as they charged at me, barking ferociously.  Quivering and afraid, I stopped peddling and closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Conflict will happen at some point in any human interaction. If you exist in a community, it is only a matter of time before someone offends you, abuses you, mistreats you, curses you or hates you. Perhaps, right here in the workplace, you have experienced an offense.  The world says, “An eye for an eye,” but Jesus commands that when confronted by these enemies of the soul, love is the appropriate response.

So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. ( I Kings 17:5-6)

A community garden can be a wonderful therapeutic space for members of any community.  It is a space where members of a community gather to savor the beauty of God’s beautiful earth. It’s a place of serenity, where one can reflect and connect with one’s inner self. It is a place where neighbors who may not even know one another well, share easy smiles as they observe the birds chirping contentedly around their feeders, and where flowers explode in their myriad shapes, colors and scents. It is a space where one can escape from the stresses that are ever present in daily life…

It’s February and love is in the air.  Many people are already busy searching for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift or experience.  But Valentine’s Day isn’t for everyone.  There are millions who are excluded on this day of love. The truth is that sometimes we adults make love much more complicated than it ought to be. For instance, pinned to my bedroom wall is a simple work of art that my son made in second grade. 

 Jim Reeves (1923-1964) was a popular American singer and songwriter.  In 1962 he released a song titled “This World Is Not my Home”.  The song begins with these lines:

This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through,

My treasures are laid up; Somewhere beyond the blue,

Weddings are wonderful events. Two people fall in love and come together to be united in holy matrimony.  The new couple step out as one unit, ready for whatever the future might bring.  We plan carefully for these weddings, paying excruciating attention to every detail, and yet as we all know, there is always that unplanned moment that becomes a permanent part of everyone’s wedding story.

In Hebrews, chapter 11 we find faith legends who lived out their faith with strength and courage, no matter what the obstacles may have been. These heroes of the faith saw victories whereas others saw defeat. They saw opportunities where others saw failure. These heroes of the Christian faith not only lived their lives by faith,

It’s a New Year, and I have an important question for you? “Do you know what will happen over the next 12 months?”  I must confess that I don’t know what will happen, and it does not really matter that I don’t, because I know the one who does.  He is the Almighty, the One that promised to give his people, Israel, a “hope and a future”, and now extends the same promise to those who believe in Him.