St. Margaret’s Celebrates 50th Anniversary

In large-group discussions, I often experience a great deal of anxiety before I contribute. A thought will hit me, and I quickly bat it away. I try to listen even harder to what others are saying, but the incessant buzzing of that thought grows in intensity until I...

Many of my relationships are challenged by the scarcity of time. We want to give our best and most fully present selves to each other, but we fall short of our own hopes, intentions, and expectations. Paul encourages us to pay our debts so that we owe no one....(View...

God calls us into many kinds of relationships: with God’s heart, with God’s creation, with the people around us, and with ourselves. These relationships can give life and joy—and they can take it away. The thief can sound like the shepherd, especially in a world where...

I have become unsurprised by bad news: another political mess, another milestone of ecological unraveling, another conflict on the global stage. It is often the good news that can be hard for me to accept and digest, especially when it comes from somewhere...

From the Archives: August 23, 1952There were thousands of martyrs in the early days, people who were not ashamed to confess the Lord Jesus with their mouths. They confessed, even though it meant they were to be stoned, beheaded, crucified, t....(View this reading and...

In my work, I sometimes feel very important. The leaders of the organizations I counsel make space in their calendars for our meetings. They review the materials I send in advance of our meetings and express gratitude as we tie up loose ends.These meetings a....(View...

How often have I sought to speak for God? Nearly always this inclination comes from a place of compassion, offering the hope I find in scripture as salve to a hurting heart or as a candle guiding another away from a road I perceive to lead to pain and heartache. I...

I have been reading Forward Day by Day since I was in high school, as has my mother. Reflections from these pages have shown up for me in big ways on crucial days. I often marvel at the synchronicity this publication supports in my life and in so many others. The...

How do we overcome evil with good? First, we have to understand that simple understandings of good and evil don’t hold up well in the real world. We catch “good guys” in “bad” acts and “bad guys” in “good” ones. Once we understand this complexity, the label of “evil”...

We are such hypocrites. The wrath of God sounds terrible until we have an enemy in our crosshairs. God, I confess my sins to you. Please show me grace. See my enemies? Please kick them in the face.Jesus says let your light shine before others. Jesus says be...