Thoughts for the New Year The most important thing in communication is to listen for the things not being said. Happiness comes through doors you didn’t know you left open. When someone says, “That’s a good question,” you can be sure it’s a lot better than the answer you’re going to get. Don’t expect God
by Rev. Jonathan C. Watt Read 2 Peter 1:16–18. He was an eyewitness. St. Peter said he saw the majesty of Jesus. The word majesty is a kingly word. It has to do with greatness and power. Glory is another word for majesty. That’s what Peter says he and the other disciples saw. He recalls
Despite its current economic or political clime, Bethlehem is still the place where Christ was born—where many still travel to remember a night long ago in this little town when the Light of the World came into its ‘dark streets.’
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? —Matt. 6:26 ESV
In many respects, the issue of The Lutheran Witness you hold in your hands offers an international perspective. In these pages our authors range from Palestine (Bethlehem and the West Bank) to Brazil, Iran, and finally back to our own U.S.
Peculiar. Today, when we use that word in conversation, our implication is
often pejorative. But as Dr. Lawrence Rast Jr. points out in our cover story, there is an older tradition regarding the use of peculiar, too, a sense that means special, unique, and yes, different in a good way.
I am reading my November issue of The Lutheran Witness, and what do my wondering eyes behold but a—what? A metaphorical homily-like piece about a cat? I have no quarrel at all with Rev. Genzen, and nothing he writes is doctrinally suspect. I also realize that the Lifeline article is often a personal refl ection.
Robert Droege (“Letters,” November 2008) quite rightly reminds us of our duty to offer aid to people troubled by hunger, poverty, homelessness, and the like. But to set abortion on moral par with these incidental adjuncts to human existence is to trivialize it. Apart from especially oppressive governments, no one sets out willfully to infl
We were disappointed to see the omission of the Q&A section again in the November Lutheran Witness. It is a valuable resource for old and new Lutherans alike. Please do not omit it. It is what we turn to first. Mark and Pam BronsonFort Worth, Texas “Q&A” will return in the coming months. A lack
Thank you for the great October article on Grace Place! Grace Place is everything the article describes–and more. As a former board member of Grace Place, as well as a parish nurse and a health ministry/parish nurse educator, I have attended a number of Grace Place retreats. It is wonderful to watch the transformation that
The dynamic Luther portrait on the cover of the October 2008 issue was never more penetrating because it cuts through the cults of power and pathogens that confront our world. Blessed by our Lord to have reached 75 years and having carried Luther’s legacy through his Catechism for about 70 years, I am convinced that
Within the Christian community, Lutherans are unique–peculiar–in the best sense of the word.