The church I served used to sing from an old songbook the hymn, "Sometimes a Light Surprises." While the hymn has fallen out of favor in our day, its words have never left me. Consider the way the song begins: Sometimes a light surprises, a...
Adam Arnett never spoke a word in his life. He couldn't dress himself, walk on his own and was susceptible to daily seizures. Yet he had a profound influence on Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), one of the most respected Catholic teachers and writers of...
The church was locked in a conflict with the Arians (who insisted God the Father created Jesus the Son, thereby making Jesus a lesser being) over who would be elected the next bishop of Milan. Ambrose (ca. 339-397), who was Milan's governor at the...
I have preached under trying circumstances, but nothing compared to William Laud's (1573-1645) concluding sermon. It was preached at the scaffold on a cold day in January 1645 moments before his scheduled execution. William was an Anglican priest...
I first learned about Hildegard of Bingen (ca. 1098-1179) in a Washington Post article about beer. This twelfth-century abbes (leader) of a convent in Germany was the first person to document the use of hops in making beer. I have come to find out...
What do you do when the people in your church sing poorly? Reginald Heber (1783-1826) was called to pastor a small church along the coast of England. Reginald, also a competent musician, found the singing rather dreadful. So, he started writing...
George MacDonald's (1824-1905) initial foray into preaching was short-lived. His congregation complained that his sermons were overly imaginative and not dogmatic enough--so much so that he resigned after three years and took up writing,...
Legend has it that Patrick (385-461) used a shamrock to teach the Irish people about the Trinity. Since the shamrock is a three-leafed plant, it's a useful metaphor to illustrate our three-in-one God. To set the record straight, there is no...
Patrick (385-461) arrived in Ireland to begin his missionary work in 432. He faced fierce opposition over the next thirty years particularly from Druids, sorcerers who practiced dark magic and cast evil spells on people. They made repeated attempts...
Patrick (ca. 385-461) may be regarded as a saint in the Catholic church but the opening line of his autobiography, Confession, reveals how he viewed himself, “My name is Patrick. I am a sinner.” Born along the coast of England, Patrick (or...
A big man with white hair and a bushy beard was carrying a saw and sawhorse down the street. A wealthy citizen of the town spotted the man and said to his friend, "He looks like a sober man. I think I'll hire him to cut wood for me." "That's...
His name was Charles although his friends in military school nicknamed him "Fats" on account of his huge appetite and lazy demeanor. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) said of that time in his life, "I sleep long. I eat a lot. I think little." A...
Anthony Bloom (1914-2003) was a medical doctor who became a Russian Orthodox priest. His childhood in Russia taught him "that life was violent, brutal, heartless" and all people were "adversaries." Only the people closest to him could be trusted....
The English King Charles I married French Princess Henrietta Maria in 1625. She was fifteen and he was twenty-four. She was not Charles' first choice, and their marriage was full of high drama, but that's a story for another day. When Henrietta...
When I was new to pastoral ministry and asked to conduct graveside services, I relied on a book of suggested prayers for use at funerals. I was drawn to the prayer that follows here, for it seems a fitting way to conclude a burial. Years later, I...
Charles Spurgeon (1831-1897) was preaching strongly and passionately on the necessity of giving up every known sin that blocks true fellowship with God. He was sharing the preaching duties one evening with the Rev. Dr. George Pentecost, so he...
I grew up singing the hymn, "Take my Life, and Let It Be." It was standard fare in the church of my youth. The organist played the hymn slow--real slow. All six stanzas at a snail's pace. By the time I finished the song, I had unwittingly...
"John Donne, Anne Donne, Undone" were the whimsical words written in the aftermath of a clandestine marriage. The English poet John Donne (1572-1631) married Anne Moore secretly, against her father's wishes. Anne's dad wanted her to marry into a...