We admit that we will never reach our ideal in this life, a distinctive the church claims that most other human institutions try to deny.

For me, the world of nature bears spectacular witness to the imaginative genius of our Creator.

As a writer, I play with words all day long. I toy with them, listen for their overtones, crack them open, and try to stuff my thoughts inside.

I say this with care, but I wonder if a fierce, insistent desire for a miracle - even a physical healing - sometimes betrays a lack of faith rather than an abundance of it. When yearning for a miraculous resolution to a problem, do we make our loyalty to God contingent on whether he reveals himself yet again in the seen world?

When we ignore the world outside the walls we suffer-as does it.

What you and I think about Jesus and how we respond to Him will determine our destiny for all eternity.

The surgery of life hurts. It helps me, though, to know that the surgeon himself, the Wounded Surgeon, has felt every stab of pain and every sorrow.