The Fatal Fall

I grew up in a household of mostly boys. Constantly looking for ways to entertain ourselves, we three brothers invented countless curious psychological games. The way the brain works, and how it connects with the real, objective world constituted for us an endless source of fascination.

This Is Not a Rose

Thinkers and artists of much greater light than I have commented for centuries on the significance of the name. Shakespeare puts the deep question– "...what's in a name?"– in the mouth of his heroine Juliet. While I won't add my own tuppence here concerning this dialogue, the readers of these articles deserve some insight into the shift in my title for this collection.

In the Belly of Sheol

Death and taxes—the inevitability of these two provoke the cliche. And while the forcible extraction of citizens' finances generates endless debate, the ending of life enjoys no such conversational popularity.

The Body

The label seems nearly trite– The Body of Christ. How often the phrase is thrown out in conversation referring to the Church, the Called Out Ones, the Believers in The Lord Jesus– the Body of Christ. But despite our too familiar and casual usage of the term, the profound depth of its meaning remains. 

Separation

Sin? No one "sins" these days, or has "sin" in them. We have dumped "sin" into the ashcan of obsolete English words. We may possess "weaknesses," and we may "make mistakes" (it amuses me when I hear the popular "I mis-spoke" used seriously in public discourse), but "sin?"– what kind of Neanderthal creature would use such an archaic, judgmental, and demeaning word?

Give Thanks

Matthew records the iconic scene of Jesus of Nazareth's "last supper" with his friends before He is executed the following day. As the meal progressed, He initiated some things that have since become enshrined in the lives of Christian believers, and which the Body of Christ has established as sacraments. Though powerfully familiar to readers of the New Testament, the passage also hints at details of the event which remain a mystery to many Gentiles.

Playing With Fire

Walking over the nearly vacant concrete slab sobered my thoughts– its pattern of linoleum tiles now open to the sky and mostly covered with ash. In the center of the slab crouched a twisted tangle of steel that less than twenty-four hours ago led to a second floor. This distorted and crumpled spiral staircase stood as the lone remnant of what had recently been home to a dozen-plus college students. Nearly all of their personal possessions now existed only in the past, and they were desperately searching for new living accommodations.