That poor innkeeper at Bethlehem! For centuries the church has berated him for turning away a woman in labor and making her give birth in a stable. It is possible, though, that the innkeeper actually provided the warmest, safest, and most private place he could for Mary to give birth. Will we show the same…
Do you want to be made well?
With cancer in his middle-aged body and the prospect of lifespan shortened, Doug Brewer joined a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2014 while health permitted. Near the start of the Via Dolorosa—the traditional “way of suffering” where Jesus carried his cross through Jerusalem—Doug and fellow pilgrims visited ruins of Bethzatha (Bethesda) Pool. A man…
Peacemaking in a whirlwind of betrayal
The whirlwind appeared so suddenly, and came so swiftly toward us on the dusty road at Tel Dothan, that I scarcely had time to take the lens cap off my camera. Then the little twister was upon us, blinding our view and rattling the car. Was the spirit of Elisha—who once famously lodged at Dothan—getting…
A politician behaving badly
Stories of politicians and clergy using positions of power for sexual abuse are painfully familiar, a reminder that no leader is above the need for boundaries and safeguards. I ponder this as I look down on neighboring houses from the top of the City of David, a small spur of mountain immediately south of today’s…
The two Joshuas of Jericho
Anyone who grieves the loss of life through war in Syria today might also lament the slaughter that took place more than three thousand years ago at Jericho when Israelites crossed the Jordan River into Canaan. Israelites “devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young…
True worship includes justice
Encased behind heavy glass, a five-foot menorah lampstand made of 24 karat gold stands in a courtyard overlooking the Western Wall and the site of the ancient temple in Jerusalem. The lampstand is ready for use in a theoretical Third Temple on a part of the Temple Mount (or “Noble Sanctuary”) where Dome of the…
Like the first syllable of shiitake
What would it take to make Saint Paul cussing mad? Fellow Jews or Christians maintaining barriers that kept others from full acceptance in the faith community, that would do it. Harsh language about such exclusion in Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi makes me consider how easy it is to raise the bar in…
Subversive women in the Judean hills
Fleeing violence in her native Honduras, Maria made her way through Guatemala and Mexico to Indiana and our congregation in Elkhart. Now she daily awaits word that a nephew has safely completed the same perilous journey. A cousin died in the desert attempting that crossing, and his body lay undiscovered for a year. Mary of…
We live in an age of martyrdom
Thousands of Christians have been slaughtered by Boko Haram in Nigeria in recent years, and most of the Western church barely seems to notice. Lord, when did we see you homeless, or hungry, or kneeling in the killing fields? When in Jerusalem, I pause at St. Stephen’s Gate to remember martyrs of the ancient and…
Exaggerated stuff in Christianity
“Yes, we are Christians,” an elderly man said on the Greek island of Milos after giving directions to my wife Ellen and me. “But we don’t believe the exaggerated stuff.” That unexpected comment came after I noticed small silver crosses he and his wife each wore. “You are Christians!” I said. Friendly conversation followed, and…
Holy Lands Peace Pilgrim 