Category Archives: Faith

Why Do People Fast During Lent?

Posted on March 12, 2017 by salooper57

The students in our church have begun what they’re calling “Fast Week.” It has nothing to do with how fast they drive their cars or how quickly they can get what they want. Quite the contrary: it’s about their willingness … Continue reading →

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Raise a Cup of Bile to Our Enemy

Posted on March 4, 2017 by salooper57

A recent study suggests that people bond more securely over shared dislikes than over mutual enthusiasms. Spouses will apparently attach more closely over a common hatred for hip-hop than over a shared love for Mozart. It’s the old, “The enemy … Continue reading →

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Reading the Bible Through Red, White, and Blue Lenses

Posted on February 25, 2017 by salooper57

There is no reference to America in the Bible, though some prophecy buffs have tried hard to find one. I tried too, when I was a young Christian. Surely, I thought, the United States of America, the most powerful country … Continue reading →

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The Dance That Must Be Learned

Posted on February 18, 2017 by salooper57

St. Paul wrote that God “comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” “That’s nice,” I say, but not with much enthusiasm, because deep … Continue reading →

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Living with Courage, Dying with Dignity

Posted on February 11, 2017 by salooper57

What does it take to die with dignity? If one looks at the website of the “Death with Dignity National Center” and “Death with Dignity Political Fund,” one will assume that a death with dignity involves certain standard components, among … Continue reading →

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Faith, and the Complexities of Being Human

Posted on January 21, 2017 by salooper57

According to the Pew Research Center, while “the vast majority of Americans still believe in God … there are strong signs that many are less certain about this belief than in years past.” Pew’s research is dependent upon what is … Continue reading →

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Life Is the Result of a Long Choosing

Posted on January 7, 2017 by salooper57

It used to be common to hear a new convert described as someone who had “got religion.” Occasionally one hears that phrase still. It makes religion sound like a disease. One gets religion like one gets a cold or a … Continue reading →

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Is it Time for a New Morality?

Posted on December 31, 2016 by salooper57

Attitudes about the morality or immorality of various lifestyle choices are in constant flux. It may be that opinions about what is morally acceptable have always been fluid, but the current of change is moving faster today than ever before. … Continue reading →

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The Day That Christmas Died

Posted on December 24, 2016 by salooper57

The so-called “War on Christmas” has been prosecuted for the past few years around the United States. It started with community leaders removing nativity scenes from town squares because of complaints from non-Christians, mostly atheists. Then came Walmart’s notorious instruction … Continue reading →

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A Christmas Case of Mistaken Identity

Posted on December 17, 2016 by salooper57

You either love Christmas or you hate it, or you do both at different times. The playwright George Bernard Shaw clearly hated it. He wrote, “Christmas is forced upon a reluctant and disgusted nation by the shopkeepers and the press; … Continue reading →

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