Events move quickly now. By noon, he'll be heading up the hill to Golgotha, the “Place of the Skull.” The outlines of the plot have been hatched under cover of darkness by men convincing each other that they've seen these troublemakers and fake-messiah/insurrectionists before. We need to protect the nation from Rome crushing us all … Continue reading A Good Friday Kind of Love

I appreciate dreary weather on Good Friday: it fits the solemnity of the day. But this year (2008) it's a Chamber of Commerce day for So Cal, and I'm enjoying warm sun at St. Michael's Abbey, just five miles from my home. I attended a short midday service chanted by the monks and then walked … Continue reading Into Your Courts I Come

There's a well-known Rembrandt sketch I sometimes ponder during the Lenten season. Rembrandt’s "Three Crosses" (see it here) portrays a crowded and chaotic crucifixion scene. Blending into the crowd under the crosses on the hill is a Renaissance-looking man, purported to be either the artist himself or the patron of the painting (often done in religious … Continue reading Under the Cross

Stan Mooneyham, former leader of World Vision International, tells a story* of Toyohiko Kagawa, a Japanese Christian who had spent his life working with and for the poor. He “was speaking at Princeton. When he finished his talk, one student said to another, ‘He didn’t say much, did he?’ A woman sitting nearby leaned over and … Continue reading When You’re Hanging on a Cross

Dear Reader: I've collected some previous Lenten meditations  to send out during this Holy Week. I hope they are a meaningful addition to your reflections in this special season. I start with one that has special significance today, as we are returning in an hour from Phoenix--just as we were the day we got the call … Continue reading Passion

Thanksgiving Day 2016 found my wife Janet and me in a prehistoric crater in Tanzania. I’d been hosting several families as we visited World Vision projects earlier in the week. Then on Wednesday evening we traveled to Ngorogoro Crater and checked into a lovely lodge where we would have our team debrief later the next … Continue reading Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Ever have an experience where you've heard something multiple times, but suddenly it strikes you at a deeper level and you don't know why? That happened to me this week. Some passionate World Vision supporters invited their friends to hear Dr. Vinh Chung and his wife Leisle tell their story. Vinh has a powerful testimony … Continue reading Born on Third Base

I hate the traffic snarls while driving north on I-5 toward LA where construction crews are widening the freeway. But this week the slowdown helped me see something I would have missed. The prior evening, I’d had dinner with another sixty-something couple. The conversation shifted to retirement, and they were surprised to learn that I’m … Continue reading Labor & Life: A Meditation

I keep getting fresh reminders that I am now fully and irrevocably "in my 60's." Usually it's something related to my physical health. For instance, when I had a detached retina recently, a number of caring friends asked me how this had happened.  I found it impossible not to form a sentence that referred to … Continue reading What Makes a Life?

It's not the right time to be bringing up another humanitarian crisis. I can't be seen as the constant bearer of bad news. People won't want to open my emails or take my calls.And frankly, I'm tired and overwhelmed myself. Maybe the rest of the world can deal with this new famine in East Africa; … Continue reading It’s Not the Right Time for a Crisis