Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year 1, NL)

Some questions won't go away. The creed says Jesus was crucified "for us," but what do those two little words mean?

Air travel—perhaps paradoxically—tutors us in patience, a practice in short supply in today's world.

Before his questioning of the doctrine of hell sparked such a (ahem) firestorm, Rob Bell wrote in Velvet Elvis a chapter about yokes.

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!" says the bold, insensitive prophet.

I wonder if Paul has Euripides in mind.

For a Christian, freedom means being the one whom God intends us to be.

I want to go from suffering to hope as quickly as possible.

Paul’s daunting promise to the Romans haunts me: “Suffering produces endurance,” he assures the Romans and us, “and endurance produces character and character produces hope.” Recently I stood in the pulpit of my church and looked over the top of a white, 32-inch-long casket at a young couple from my congregation. Their six-month-old son, who had been happy and healthy just days before, had died in his sleep. The unfathomable suffering of the family was shadowed by a church filled with mourners for whom the scene enacted their most dreaded fears.

This Sunday's readings provide Bible backup for a nonscriptural word.