The first Labor Day celebration was observed in New York City in 1882. It was not intended to be the official end of summer. It was a movement to honor “the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our…

In American literature, the biggest religious pretender of all time is probably Sinclair Lewis’ Elmer Gantry. While most of us have not read the book, we may remember the movie. The film was a 1960 masterpiece starring Burt Lancaster in an…

My wife attended Lutheran Catechism. My neighbor went to an Adventist Sabbath class. My college friend was enrolled in a Yeshiva. And I attended Sunday School. I suppose these are all different names for a similar religious rite of passage: The…

Do you know the three most frightening words in the English language? “Some assembly required.” You order something online; a toy or a bicycle for your children. Or you go to a big box store to get a grill or piece of patio furniture….

I’m writing this article while sitting in my father’s chair. You know the chair of which I speak. It is that ratty old recliner that occupies the living room, den, or man-cave that no guest or other family member is ever allowed access….

Curtain climbers. yard monkeys. cherubs. whippersnappers. ankle biters. urchins. I don’t know what you call them, but our children have been turned loose on the world. School is out for summer (at least it ends this week here where I live). By…

In Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, the author tells of a young lad sent journeying to a wise man to discover the secret of happiness. After a long journey, the wise man listened to the boy’s explanation for his visit, then answered,…

Come and join Li’l Hungry Hearts on Friday, June 21, 2013 at 7:05 p.m. to watch the Everett Aquasox play the Hillsboro Hops. Ticket pre-sales starts now until May 10 and tickets cost $11 with $4 going directly to help “Take A Bite Out Of…

Years ago my oldest son asked me a question: “What is a saint?” When you’re driving along with a numb mind at day’s end, as I was, that’s not the type of question you are prepared to answer. So I splattered out,…

The Puget Sound Blood Center is bringing a mobile blood drawing unit to Frontier Village on Tuesday, May 14. The Lake Stevens Kiwanis Club is sponsoring the event. If you are interested in donating please call 425-760-7183 or stop by the day of the…

Mt. Pilchuck Elementary will be having their Art Walk “Garden Party” Tuesday, May 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. They will be celebrating the Art Program as well as dedicating the “Giving Garden”. There will be various artists in…

There is a Zen parable about a man who surprised a sleeping tiger while walking through the jungle. The ferocious animal pursued the man, causing him to throw down his bag and walking stick, as he ran for his life. With the tiger tightly on his…

Four-hundred and ninety times. That was Jesus’ answer to the question, “How many times should I forgive someone who has offended me.” I don’t think Jesus was being literal; how I wish he were!. Then there would at least be a…

The words “holy” and “sacred” are sometimes used interchangeably. I don’t think this should be the case, as there is a huge difference between the two. Sacred comes from the Latin, “sacrum.” You might…

I have bad news. Researchers have confirmed that planet Earth is headed toward an apocalypse. Yes, I know that the Mayan calendar is in our rearview mirrors, and we have all returned to paying our credit card bills, mortgages, and car payments once a…

Jesus never described the gospel as an escape hatch, whereby we can exchange this current world for a spiritual retreat far away. Rather, his gospel was: “God’s kingdom is here! Heaven has come to earth!” Jesus invites his…

On Easter morning a Sunday School teacher began to quiz her class of young children about the real meaning of the day. She asked them, “What is Easter?”. A little boy jumped up and said, “Oh, I know! Easter is that holiday when we…

I have a dear friend whose is a recent empty nester and whose husband is away working at a distant job site. Her experience touched me very deeply about how she is relying on and exercising faith in God to help her at this trying time in her life….

In the town of Madison, Florida, you can find the Colin P. Kelly memorial, a striking sculpture of four angels, their wings unfurled in the wind. The memorial was dedicated in 1943 to the name and heroics of a B-17 pilot whose plane was shot down…

I love puzzles. Crosswords, brainteasers, and search-a-words to be sure, but nothing beats an old fashioned jigsaw puzzle with about gazillion pieces spilling out of the box. Right now there is a monster-sized puzzle strewn across our family’s…

I once approached my life and work as if I was building a house. Drive a nail here. Lay a block there. Smear a bit of paint in the corner. Cut out a window now and again. Figuratively, this is how I treated my life, and it is a solid, powerful…

A few months ago bestselling author Anne Rice made a very public departure from Christianity. Her words – “Today I quit being a Christian…I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being Christian” – rattled arou…

Dr. Paul Brand was one of God’s great gifts to the world and to modern medicine. The son of English missionaries to India, Brand came home to Britain in preparation to follow in his parents’ footsteps. He studied to become a physician,…

“You talk a whole lot about Jesus,” an interviewer said to me. I was glad to hear this remark, for talking “a whole lot about Jesus” is my intention. He continued, “But when are you going to talk about the…

“No man is an island entire of itself,” the great John Donne famously wrote. Rather, he said, every person “is a part of the main.” That is, we are all involved with and interconnected to humankind. God, a relational being as…