By NOEL SINGLETON The significance of winter solstice is that life and light return after the longest night – return as they always have, again and again forever. There’s more than an allegory in that. Here again, our Pagan ancestors supplied a most authentic “reason for the season,” understood by natural peoples for 30,000 years and more. Nichiren, the Buddha
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(Editor’s Note: Rob Sellers, religion professor emeritus at Hardin-Simmons University, is ending his tenure as chairman of the board of trustees of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Following his his farewll letter.) Dear Friends of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, In ten days I will step down as Chair of the Parliament and bring to a close one
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BY DR. RICK L. HAMMER As another year draws to a close and we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, I thought it worthwhile to reflect on the Christmas and holiday season from a creation care or green perspective. During the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holiday season, it’s very easy and understandable for us to be unaware
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By DANNY MINTON There’s an empty plate at the table. There’s a strange silence that comes from that spot as the dishes are passed from person to person. She was always the last to sit down, making sure everyone was served first. When everyone was served, then she sat down. That plate was empty today for the first time. There’s
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Don’t give me a fruitcake for Christmas © Glenn Dromgoole Don’t give me a fruitcake for Christmas this fall. The last one you gave me I couldn’t eat at all. What are those green things and blue things and red? Are they still alive, or dormant, or dead? I knew I couldn’t eat it, right from the start, because of
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By DANNY MINTON One of my favorite stories at Christmastime is “The Other Wise Man” by Henry van Dyke. It’s the story of Artaban, a man who studied the stars. He and his companions in the east had been studying the stars looking for a sign they had discovered in an ancient book. The sign would signify the birth of
Read moreNancy Patrick at new home in Illinois, far from home, on Christmas 1974. Nancy and her husband, Mike, had just moved to Illinois for Mike’s first pastorate and they were among strangers for the first time. By NANCY PATRICK Every year by Thanksgiving, our society transforms into a charitable, adoring, nostalgic, and sentimental group of people who seem to
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By DAN STIVER There is a story about St. Francis of Assissi where he calls out to an almond tree, “Speak to me of God!” and the almond tree breaks into bloom. Whether or not this happened, it is consistent with St. Francis’ attitude towards this world of nature. He is famous for speaking to wild animals and enjoying nature
Read moreBy DARRYL TIPPENS The week before Christmas in 1999 Madeleine L’Engle, the author of the classic novel A Wrinkle in Time, lost her son, Bion. This was not the first, nor would it be the last, of the great sorrows endured by this gifted author. I caught a glimpse of her challenges when I met her a few months before
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Spirit Of Abilene 