Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day that marks the joyous entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. As in every other occasion of his earthly time among us, our expectations are reversed, and we are surprised again by a world turned upside down. It was not a warrior’s stallion that bore Jesus through the gates and…
It’s happened a million and one times. I’m getting my nails done, picking up take-out, or making small talk in the line at the post office. Someone will ask where I work, and I’ll get to tell them about all the brilliant people I know at Duke, the students I love, and the church people…
A poor carpenter from Nazareth was put to death this week, died, was buried, and rose from the dead. Even though Christians do a lot of thinking and talking about tombs on Easter weekend, the story does not end there. It might be the most dramatic element – on the other side, nothing will be…
One of my favorite things about Christmas parties was that they helped me say something a little louder than usual: that I was so effing glad to be alive. Hope springs up in the gloom. Not everything is lost. Even if every horrible thing about empire and injustice and cancer cells is true, a little baby is still about to be born who will crack open the world.
The season of joy and cheer runs on two things: sugar and torture. We cram as much as possible into days that sprint by. When you are in the season of terrible, you hold on to every second.
There are some days when we feel we will drown in the exhaustion of trying to stay afloat. Days when blood and blessing are being drained from our limbs and hearts. May this blessing offer you support when you’re teetering on the edge of the world.
