So it turns out the reconstructing a community is a lot more work than reconstructing a temple. Stones are more flexible than people. Did we know this? While the first half of the Book of Nehemiah was taken up with describing the building project that reconstructed the perimeter of Jerusalem, the second half (8-13) explores…

Dan Buettner made headlines with his book The Blue Zones, which looked at the longest-lived cultures in the world and the kind of life that contributes to living past 100. He noticed during that research that many of the world’s longest-lived cultures were also very happy societies. This led to a new research project called…

In his new book Christmas: Festival of Incarnation, Donald Heinz argues that for all its commercialism, Christmas is still best understood as Christianity’s key holy day. I’m so pleased to welcome him here for a Q&A. You can also watch a YouTube interview with him here.  (Can I add that it cracks me up that…

Redemption is not a theme we normally associate with Christmas, but with the heaviness of repentance and Lent. The cross is where Christians believe our sins were forgiven, so the Lenten and Easter seasons are the times we reflect on redemption. Christmas is for lightness and gifts and carols. Not so for Bonhoeffer. In our…

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