Grace Mills River

The present looks on the past as a world full of judgmental folk. The past might look on the present as a world full of people indiscriminately yelling, “hey, don’t judge.” Set aside the question of who’s on the so-called right side of history--what...

Anxiety is something that most, if not all, of us can relate to. We may experience different causes and degrees of it, but anxiety is an emotion that we encounter often. Jesus tells us, though, that we should not be anxious about our lives. How can...

. . .people seem to be very culturally preoccupied with this idea of happiness, of finding happiness. - Ruth Whippmann

In many cases, our mothers may be the most potent picture of sacrifice we know. To bear us, nourish us, protect us is to demonstrate what it means to be treasured. If what we treasure reveals our heart, what does it take for our hearts to treasure...

Atheists who demonize religion face a problem of evil as insoluble as that which faces Christianity. - John Gray, Seven Types of Atheism

By the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray, we take praying as both a given, and as something that needs guidance. What guidance do we (still) need if we are to believe it to be a given--a non-negotiable--of taking refuge in God?

. . .the question is never whether some kind of faith will reemerge. The question is what will it be. - Andrew Delbanco, The Real American Dream

Sin is a seduction in how it allures us with a false promise. But there is a way of expressing devotion to God that can be just as seductive: when the devotion has more interest in being seen by others. Why, and why does that matter?

Jesus came both to conquer and to atone for all that held us captive. He could only do so by becoming a servant of God. We live to conquer and hope our triumphs outweigh our regrets, and end up being servants of self.

It so happens we hear from Jesus His hardest words on the day we remember His darkest hour. How shall we understand His words about persecution and perfection in that very moment when He who was perfect--the only perfect One--experienced the utter...