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Learning to love broken things

I am learning to love broken things
Like the beauty of rust that bears witness to epochs past
Or the tired barnacles that cling steadfastly to the underbellies of sunken ships
To value the signs of aging as patin...

Dear Death,

I never wanted to see your face. For many years I was spared the agony of your presence. I guess I got too comfortable, too complacent. 

I knew about you and what you were capable of, but I had not yet met you intimately. From what I'd seen, you were always b...

When I was growing up, Anger became my friend. Anger and I would secretly hang out together. Anger showed me how to take out my frustration by punching walls and punishing my body. Anger protected me from being hurt by my dad by building up a wall of hate. Anger introd...

My wife Jen loves Christmas. Our Christmas tree is usually setup well in advance of December 25th (no later than Thanksgiving), and a steady stream of Christmas movies are playing at any given time (Miracle on 34th Street, the new version, is on right now). Some years...

Everyone’s complicit at the cross.

By complicit, I don’t just mean in a general everyone-has-sinned-and-fallen-short-of-the-glory kind of way, although that is true too.

I mean, the cross reveals the specific ways that we, as individuals and as a society, are complicit i...

Why the book of Nehemiah is no justification for Trump's border wall. 

 photo credit: Mike Blake (Reuters)

We are not far into 2018 and there is already heated conversation happening around the country regarding the construction of a border wall.

Not only that, there are...

I think it's about time for our children’s church songs to reflect God's heart for justice and the realities of our current world. Many of the songs I grew up singing in VBS and children’s church, like "Father Abraham" and "Jesus, loves the little children," are still...

I sat down in my aisle seat hoping to find some rest on the plane ride home from a speaking event. As an introvert who travels and speaks a lot, I like to use the flight time to decompress. Unfortunately, my seatmate started chatting me up before I could slip my headph...

The Chicago neighborhood of North Lawndale has a rich history, a vibrant community, and a lot of exciting new neighborhood initiatives. So much more is happening in North Lawndale than what is often portrayed in the media. Here are 10 hidden gems for those who may not...

The Center for Inclusivity made a call for people of faith and conscience to join them at the Pride parade in Chicago to counter-protest the hateful religious extremists who show up each year. The goal was to #makelovelouder, a tongue and cheek way to elevate love for...