Exile Twelve
When each of my children was born in England, the hospital gave every new father a set of things to think about. Let me quote them here and see if they resonate.
Exile Eleven
Not too long ago, a famous aerial acrobat suffered a bad fall from his high trapeze. He barely escaped death. Later, in an interview, he said that as soon as his bones mended, he would be back up in the air again.
Exile Ten
There’s a story told about a church organist who played one of those old-fashioned organs – the type that had to be pumped by hand to get air flowing through the pipes and reeds. It was no small honor to be selected to be the boy or girl who operated the hand pump.
Exile Nine
By the Waters of Babylon –Ps 137:1 [Tomorrow is the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus – read Acts 1:1-11] Acts 1:10-11: Two men dressed in white said, “Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky?” Those two verses remind me of a popular schoolboy prank,...
Exile Eight
Have you ever sat in church on a Sunday morning (remember when we could do that?) and listening to a familiar Bible story being read, for instance, of Jesus healing the leper? You have heard the story many times before and you believe that it is true. But, while you are in worship, your good friend is hanging by a thread in a local hospital dying of cancer. Fear and anxiety fill your heart and, although your mind believes that Jesus had the power to heal your loved one, your heart is blinded by the seeming reality of impending death.
Exile Seven
These days, who cannot identify with the words of the spiritual: Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen? Almost everyone can state personal stories of pain, rejection, sorrow, and inconvenience.
