

Prodigal
I was today years old when I learned the definition of the word prodigal. Until recently, I never thought of the word "prodigal" without the word "son." I would have been hard-pressed to define the singular word prodigal because "prodigal son" is a concept to me. Prodigal was a label, not a word with a specific definition. I've known the Bible story of the Prodigal Son since I was a child. It's the story about a son who goes rogue, realizes he messed up, goes back home, and i

Today & Tomorrow
Today is an historic day in our history - the swearing in of the first woman of color and Southeast Asian descent as Vice-President, and a day that happens every four years, a peaceful transition of power in our government. It was supposedly described as “commonplace and miraculous” by Ronald Reagan, the first person I ever watched give an inaugural address. It was in 1985 in the living room of my childhood home with my father when we watched the Second Inaugural Address of P


Wilderness
While I have been getting out of the house during the last year, I haven’t had a lot of interaction with people. I’ve mostly had quick trips to the grocery store, or trips to pick up things at church when I know nobody else is there. I think the longest interaction I’ve had with anybody outside the family was when I bought a car last summer. But the salesman and I would never recognize each other since we had masks on. I've been hosting a Zoom gathering every other week for o

20 + CMB + 21
A blessed Epiphany to you! I wonder how many of us celebrate the Epiphany? If you have ever visited Historic New Castle for their Dickens Christmas you might have stumbled upon the Amstel House’s display prepared to show us what a Colonial Twelfth Night celebration may have looked like. But what exactly is Epiphany? It means revelation. We begin the season of revelations with the revelation to the Magi, a mysterious gentile people from the east. Matthew 2:1-12 is the story of