"Smiling faces, smiling faces, sometimes, they don't tell the truth, smiling faces, smiling faces, tell lies, and I've got proof..." The Temptations did this song in 1971 and it's a favorite. But it's message is all too familiar. Sometimes, a friend turns out to be no friend at all. Sometimes, the smiling mask someone wears…
Fr. Barnabas Powell
Drama! I confess, I am not a fan of drama in my house. And here I am living with three women! I guess the joke's on me!
OK, before I get in real trouble here, let me say that I have noticed the older I get, the more I like quiet and smooth sailing. And yet,…
Why is it I keep having to learn wisdom the hard way? I mean, it isn't like I haven't had wise men and women and friends who have offered wise counsel. I've seen how bad choices can really wreck a life and then I've watched myself make those SAME BAD CHOICES! What gives?
Well, what gives…
"But I don't understand!" How many times have I said these very words concerning something I was going through in my life? If I had a nickel for every time I said this or heard this, especially from my children, I'd be very wealthy.
And I really don't understand why God does what He does; why…
"So, now we're negotiating." It was a great moment. We had been going back and forth for a while and finally had agreed on a course of action and all that was left to do was determine the details. You see, it had become clear to me that we were not really on the same…
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Well, sure, but the name "rose" captures that smell perfectly, doesn't it? You see, names matter. They aren't merely random labels we attach to things, places, and persons. That kind of thinking has gotten us in deep trouble as a society!
No, it is no…
There's a prevailing notion that the mere granting of mental assent is believing. But is that really true? Is that really enough to actually believe?
Does simply saying you think something is true mean you truly believe it? I know we live in a society that likes to reduce life to "manageable" sizes. We want to…
The concept of "holy space" takes a beating in our modern society that values egalitarianism above hierarchy. But without one place being set aside as "holy" we lose the ability to see the "holy" in every place!
In our Scripture Lesson today we read how God promised Abram (later his name would be changed to "Abraham")…
We live in an age where "marvelous" and "wonderful" have been tamed. We hear these words and immediately get excited about the "good" things happening! But this definition that "marvelous" and "wonderful" always mean "pleasant" and "positive" things is a reflection of our own shallow age.
Through centuries of human existence, these words have also conveyed…
In ancient architecture, the cornerstone was the first stone laid in the foundation of a building and its importance was both practical and irreplaceable. It was by the cornerstone that the whole building was oriented. The cornerstone was the stone that all other stones in the building was referenced to and oriented toward. In other…