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For Mary’s Sake

There are no earthquakes, no glowing angels (Matthew), no big stone doors magically rolled away (Mark), or dazzling heavenly pronouncements (Luke). And certainly no five-piece rock bands to make sure the resurrection is hip enough. John's account differs starkly from the others--empty tomb, the leavings of the burial tidily stowed therein, and nobody there, human or otherwise, to cushion the shock and announce an answer or two. There are only the questions. Peter the Impetuous inspects the tomb, guesses that…
Roy M. Anker
May 16, 2003
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Jelly Doughnut

I didn't go to church last weekend, but I think I took Communion. It happened in a motel lobby on a Monday morning with my hair still slightly wet and stringy from the shower and not even a stranger in sight to partake with me. Nevertheless, in spite of it being the wrong place and the wrong time, in spite of looking less presentable than I would usually enter McDonalds, I felt invited. My 86-year old mother, my husband and…
Jane Cronkite
April 16, 2003
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Missing God

Our son, David, three years old at the time, was praying at bedtime. He asked God to bless his friends, then family, pets, and stuffed animals, and finally he ended the prayer saying, "And God, I miss you." What was this? My jaw dropped. He misses God, what do I do with that? Part of me wanted to offer him a comforting story or some reassuring advice that would remind him of God's presence, but another part of me was…
J. Bradley Wigger
April 16, 2003
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An Interview with Freda Gardner: Part II

Carol Cook: You had mentioned at the beginning that one of the distinctive features of the Reformed tradition, at least at its best, is that it continues to be open to reformation. As you reflect on the course of your lifetime, are there some significant ways you have witnessed the Reformed tradition in this process of reforming itself? Freda Gardner: Well at one level, we certainly could think about the role of the church in changing our minds about slavery,…
Carol Cook
April 16, 2003
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Sensitive Soldiers

My father served in the US Army during the Second World War and spent a good portion of his time in the desert area of North Africa. As a boy, growing up during the early 1950s, I learned about war and soldiering much the same way every other American boy did: by watching John Wayne and Audie Murphy movies in the theaters and on television. My father rarely, if ever, talked about his experiences as a soldier. He had a…
Charles C. Adams
April 16, 2003
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The Love We Give, The Love We Get

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson has taken massive risks with every film he has ever made, and his recent film Punch Drunk Love (due out soon on video) is no exception. Both Anderson and his star Adam Sandler here grow by leaps and bounds. Together, the two create a completely original film with its own logic, unique humor, and startling beauty. Everything in this film is exaggerated, especially Sandler's character, Barry Egan. He is unsure of himself, enclosed in his own…
David Schaap
April 16, 2003
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The Morality of Wealth

About twelve years ago, Glenn Tinder asked in a landmark Atlantic Monthly article the vitally important question, "Can We Be Good without God"? He said we could not. The crucial question that John Schneider addresses in his new book is "Can We Have God and Our Goods"? That is, can we have God and our bulging financial portfolios, our Mercedes Benzes, our mega-houses, our summer cottages, our luxury vacations, our electronic toys, our closets full of clothing, our storage garages…
Dave Schelhaas
April 16, 2003
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The Eleventh Commandment

The ten commandments are just the beginning of the law in Exodus 20. There are many more laws to come--in fact, exactly 613 laws by the counting of Orthodox Jews. How many laws are in the ten commandments themselves? It seems obvious that there are ten in the ten commandments! Yet, I was interested to find that in the way the Orthodox Jewish community counts the commandments in Exodus 20, there is another commandment that comes just before the ten…
Gordon Wiersma
April 16, 2003