Most readers of this column have been in a position of authority at some time I rsquo m sure and some of us this writer included enjoy a constancy of authority because of education ordination position or wealth Though we might not speak of it often even quietly to ourselves it is a delight

The common understanding of the relationship between Onesimus and Philemon in Paul rsquo s letter to Philemon is that Onesimus was a slave of Philemon Though it remains a debated issue Onesimus had either run away from Philemon or had been sent by him to render service to Paul while he was impriso

The whole nature of kingship can be confusing At least it is confusing to me raised as I was in Canada a democracy that nevertheless retains a monarch as head of state It does not necessarily get clearer in the United States whose founding as an independent nation goes back to the casting off o

The passage from the Book of Wisdom about God ldquo overlooking rdquo sins has a wry humor when juxtaposed with little Zacchaeus too small in stature to be seen That is not true of course for no matter where Zacchaeus was standing hidden among the crowd or walking away from Jesus God ldquo

The baby Jesus still grabs our attention and the sweet obsession of the gypsy Yerko in Robertson Davies rsquo s The Rebel Angels for the ldquo Bebby Jesus rdquo reveals that deep attraction After a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where Yerko sees a medieval cr che scene he

I am not alone in considering Jesus rsquo parable of the dishonest or unrighteous manager or steward oikonomos the most difficult complex and confusing of all Jesus rsquo parables The reason for this is simple in the first verse of the parable after determining that the manager is ldquo

lsquo The apostles said to the Lord lsquo Increase our faith rsquo rdquo What rsquo s the equation for increasing faith ldquo The Lord replied lsquo If you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree ldquo Be uprooted and planted in the sea rdquo and it wo

There is a bittersweet gentleness to Otis Redding rsquo s classic song ldquo Sitting on the Dock of the Bay rdquo as the singer looks homeward to Georgia while ldquo wastin rsquo time rdquo on the San Francisco docks Everyone has experienced a longing for home whether at summer camp as a chi

There is an inherent tension in Christianity between the indicative and the imperative what we are and what we are intended to be between the present and the future the life we are now living and the world to come If we focus only on this world or only on the world to come the Christian life is