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...
Some people are hard to peg. Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is one such person. He is eminently quotable yet challenging to read. He broke off his engagement with Regina while admitting he was still deeply in love with her. He wrote with an acerbic...
Jesus was the epitome of contemplation in action. He was a model contemplative, withdrawing from people at regular intervals for intentional prayer. Yet he was also an activist, healing the sick and proclaiming the Kingdom of God. His rich inner...
John Ireland was having lunch with a friend who asked him if he would compose a tune for the poem, "My Song is Love Unknown." John reached for the menu and sketched out a tune in fifteen minutes. His friend published the poem as a hymn in 1918 and...
His parents had a cushy job picked out for him. Thomas would become abbot (leader) of a wealthy monastery that had grown lax in monastic rigor. Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274) did not share his parent's enthusiasm for this prearranged scheme. He...
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a doctoral student in theology when Howard Thurman (1899-1981) was appointed the first African American Dean of the Boston University Chapel. Martin listened intently to his weekly sermons. Howard, who had attended...
He wrote something that ended up on the bedroom wall of Mother Teresa. You might expect it to be the work of a much-heralded saint from church history. Nope! It’s written by a relative unknown in religious circles. He’s been a faithful Sunday...
Francois Fenelon (1651-1715) was way ahead of his time in educating children. After he was ordained a Catholic priest in 1675, he was assigned to teach girls in Paris the essentials of Christian faith. He carefully studied the learning habits of...
His journey to faith in Christ was circuitous. While Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was baptized in the Church of England, he had little religious upbringing. He lived a wild and reckless life in New York City. During his early years at Columbia...
Orthodox is a word meaning right thinking. Someone who is orthodox in faith is thinking right about God. Dead orthodoxy is a way of describing right thinking that leads nowhere. What good is orthodoxy (right thinking) if it doesn't lead to...
I am in close contact with a Christian engaged in ministry in a Muslim-dominated country. It's risky, dangerous work. He relays chilling accounts of Christians martyred for their identification with Christ. Todd Johnson who directs the Center...
His prayer is famous in the annals of British history, "O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget thee, do not forget me." What is striking about the prayer is that this British general entered it in his diary on the eve before...
Courage and cowardice can exist in the same person. I can attest to it. I alternate between a wimp and having a brave heart. I recognize a similar tendency in Thomas Cranmer (1489-1566), a leader in the Protestant Reformation. He orchestrated the...