Even today the Pharaoh, photographed last November as a mighty crouching sphinx, still seems powerful. But the book of Exodus doesn’t so much as give his name! It’s those who resisted Pharaoh’s cruelty on a grassroots level—midwives Shiphrah and Puah—whose names really matter. Scripture says trouble for the Hebrews began when “a new king arose…
It’s time to stand with suffering and vulnerable people!
Two thousand year ago the cruelty of Herod forced Jesus and his parents to go to Egypt for refuge. Today cruel policies in Washington threaten to force Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan. This in the wake of American-supplied bombs having reduced Gaza to cinders. Today Washington also threatens to violate the sanctity of churches, mosques,…
When a ruler becomes idolatrous
At a museum in Rome I took this picture of a head of Emperor Caligula (AD 37-41). With eerily familiar words, first-century Roman historian Suetonius describes Caligula’s rise to power:“Upon his arrival in Rome the Senate and a crowd of people who had forced their way into the House immediately and unanimously conferred absolute power…
Christians cannot be Crusaders
Any call for Christians to become Crusaders or to hate Muslims is as far from the gospel as we could go.
The heavens are telling the glory of God . . .
. . . and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork! In a churchyard in Ohio, USA, at the center of eclipse “totality,” Ellen and I watched in amazement yesterday as the moon slid in front of the sun. Through dense solar filter glasses we saw earth’s satellite take a progressively larger bite out of our closest…
“Dead” on the sidewalk in Holy Week
(Photo by Greg Swiercz, South Bend Tribune.) On Wednesday of Holy Week I lay “dead” with others on a cold sidewalk for forty-five minutes outside the office of our Congressman Rudy Yakym in Mishawaka, Indiana. (I am the second person from the camera, in the olive jacket.) The Congressman sends out mailings saying, “Israel needs…
Dog in the Manger
Near Bethlehem Bible College, where I was teaching a year ago, the “separation wall” is thick with graffiti registering anger, frustration, and yearning. Almost daily I walked down Star Street in Bethlehem to the Church of the Nativity to pray for justice and peace in a land with so much suffering. Visits to the manger…
(Corrected) Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem this year
(For those of you who get to this blog by an email notice, I am resending this story. The link in the first version I sent out did not work. Sorry!) Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem this year. Take a few minutes to hear Palestinian Christian voices from Bethlehem and Jerusalem this Advent season. During…
Christmas is cancelled in Bethlehem this year
Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem this year. Normally that would sound like the beginning of a joke, but this year it is deadly serious. During the academic year 2022-23 I had the privilege of being a visiting scholar at Bethlehem Bible College where Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac is academic dean. He also is the senior…
The things that make for peace
“As Jesus came near and saw the city of Jerusalem, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41,42). Safe back at home in Indiana, getting over jet lag from being in Jerusalem,…
Holy Lands Peace Pilgrim 