“Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister abides in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling.” (John 2:9-10, NRSVUE) Here, as elsewhere, John places the contrast before his readers in its ultimate essential form, as of light and darkness, love and hatred. He assumes that there cannot be a vacuum in the soul. In...

“The pantry light is out,” I proclaimed as I searched for something to snack on. When we bought our house, it was in the frame stage and far enough along that the builder would not allow any modifications to what the city had already approved. Since our previous house sold faster than we had anticipated, we did not want to do anything to push out the completion date. The builder was doing enough of that without our help! The pantry has double...

“Are you okay?” asked a gentleman who grabbed my arm. “Are you hurt?” asked another. “Only my pride,” I responded as another gentleman told me, “That was a good recovery!” “Jump school training, tuck and roll,” I replied. As everyone drifted off, I told myself I’m not wearing this sweatshirt for the rest of my vacation. I didn’t want anyone to recognize the old guy that fell down the steps. We were on vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado, and we...