Once when he was asked, “What is more important: Prayer or Reading the Bible?” Charles Spurgeon replied with a question of his own: “What is more important: Breathing in or Breathing out?” Just as breathing in and breathing out is not an either/or proposition, we should never look at prayer and reading the Bible as…
The Old Testament reading for Christmas Day includes the following verse from Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” (Isaiah 52:7) When it comes to things of beauty in God’s…
As Christmas approaches let’s take a look at one of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s most famous poems, “Christmas Bells.” The poem was written by Longfellow on Christmas Day in 1863 as our nation was at war with itself during the Civil War. Longfellow struggles to believe there is any good left in the world as, “from…
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,” (Isaiah 7:14) One thing our church likes to do this time of year is to have an Advent and Christmas hymn sing. In place of our opening hymn we sing a…
One of the largest and longest-lasting European empires, the Spanish realms spanned from South Asia to South America and lasted nearly 500 years. The Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation is committed to promoting the art of the Spanish Americas and includes works from present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. This Virgin and Child is attributed…
The third Sunday in Advent focuses on joy in an otherwise subdued and penitential season. Isaiah 35:1–2 describes a joy that bursts forth dramatically: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; [2] it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory…
A fragment of an idol of the ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor was found at a Spanish settlement dating back 2,700 years in Salamanca. Hathor was worshiped as a consort of several male Egyptian deities and the mother of their sons. She is also symbolically the mother of the Egyptian pharaohs who were the earthly representatives of the…
Snakes are not something I normally associate with Advent but maybe I should rethink that. Two of the most common Biblical texts read during the season of Advent mention snakes. First, there is Isaiah 11:8–9: “The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on…
Several things struck me about this portrait of St. Michael the archangel defeating the devil that I recently discovered. First, his sword. It is more like a lightsaber than a sword. Although the handle looks like a regular sword handle the blade looks like it is made of fire. This goes along with what Paul…
Mirror Neurons 