Given that we are closing in on the climax and conclusion of Lent and, additionally, that in this morning’s devotion we looked at Jesus’ cry of dereliction, I found this meditation on the relationship between faith, doubt, and struggle by Brené Brown both interesting and helpful. Referencing the spiritual awakening (slash, mental breakdown) she described in her breakthrough TED Talk, Brené confides that she went to church to find comfort. Instead, she found challenge. “Church wasn’t an epidural, it was a midwife. It just stood next to me and said ‘Push, it’s supposed to hurt a bit.’” (One of the more quotable quotes I’ve...

There’s a lot to like about this interview with Bill and Melinda Gates. There’s the joy they clearly have in working together. There’s the regular testimony of Melinda Gates to her faith, a faith that inspires her to action and to question some of the authorities in her faith tradition. There’s the clear sense of urgency, priority, and optimism that colors their work. But perhaps my favorite thing of the interview is the delighted admission that giving their wealth away has been the most satisfying thing they’ve ever done. Yes, that’s true when you have billions to give. And, yes, that’s equally true when it’s dollar bills....

In working through Matthew’s Passion for our Lenten Devotions this year, I’ve been struck again by some of the really difficult elements of his story. In particular, at several points he seems to work pretty hard to exonerate the Romans, and particularly Pontius Pilate, of responsibility for Jesus’ death and to cast that responsibility and blame onto the Jewish religious authorities and crowds. All of the gospels do that to some degree or another, but Matthew goes to greater lengths (although John’s Gospel comes in a close second). His is the only passion narrative, for instance, in which Pilate washes his hands of Jesus’...

What do you do when someone offends you, or tries to hurt you, or goes out of their way to slight you? As persons of faith, we  confess that we would try – huge emphasis on try – to return that hurt with compassion and forgiveness. This is what we see in Jesus’ life and, most acutely, in his death and resurrection: his refusal to return hate but instead to offer love, believing and trusting that love, ultimately, is more powerful than hate. While I find this message in Scripture regularly, however, it’s also nice to have it reaffirmed in the public square and, at times, in the commercial square. Honeymaid, the company who for years...