In Spirit and Truth

#211 in our United Methodist Hymnal has, for some time, been my favorite song. The haunting melody bears the familiar pain of the exile, and yet this song about deep desire and current pain is filled with hope. Not just any hope, but hope of deliverance. It is the hope for the return of God. Emmanuel had been here before. Adam and Eve walked with Him in the cool of the day. But those days are long forgotten. The years of rebellion had pushed them so far away that all they had left was an ache to be remembered. O come, O come Emmanuel! Can you identify with this song? Christ came and brought about our redemption. He walked with us in the cool of the day. But years of rebellion have pushed our world to the edge of evil. Listen to the echoes of wars and conflict. Those wars happen between countries, but they also happen between family members, they happen between friends. A thousand shattered relationships make us cry out, “O come! O come, Emmanuel!” We are exiled, caught betwee

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching! I don’t think I’m alone when I say that the thanksgiving meal is my favorite of the year; closely followed by post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches. This is the time of the year where we are able to reflect on the blessings God has given us. This last weekend, my fiancée, Kristin and I went walking through antique stores and I saw a cheesy little sign that said, “Don’t count your blessings, share them.” Now at first glance that little truism seems trite and a bit cliché. But the more I have thought about that, especially in the light of the coming holiday, the more it has struck me as essential. In Genesis 12:2 God tells Abram, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” (RSV) We see here that one of the primary purposes for God’s blessing to Abram was that he would in turn be a blessing from God to the nations. We as the children of Abraham have that same duty. In fact,