by David Anderson
In 2010 Forest Fenn, an art dealer and former Air Force fighter pilot, wrote a self-published memoir entitled, The Thrill of the Chase. In it he announced that he had buried a lockbox full of gold coins and nuggets, precious gems, and artifacts worth over $2 million. Every buried treasure has to have a mysterious clue, […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Advent
I’ve never known a soul to cry at an Easter hymn, but many of us cry singing Advent and Christmas songs and carols. A friend was just telling me about the Lessons & Carols service she attended the first Sunday of Advent. “When the choir sang ‘People Look East,’ I started to cry—I always cry […]
by David Anderson 12 Comments Filed Under: Advent
As much as we like good news, we have a hard time believing it. The Hebrew prophets are often remembered for their fiery judgements, but not today. The Jews have just been frogmarched out of their country, held captive in Babylon. Jerusalem, their holy city, is in ruins. Their temple has been destroyed. And in […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Advent
A priest goes on retreat to a monastery. He really needs his time away. He gets to the monastery and things go pretty well, except for this bothersome guy named John who prays next to him in the chapel every day and is always in the refectory for meals. John was annoying, not the kind […]
by David Anderson 8 Comments Filed Under: Advent
Here is the little door,lift up the latch, oh lift! These are the opening lines of a Christmas poem by Frances Chesterton (G.K. Chesterton’s wife), put splendidly to music in the Herbert Howell anthem, “Here is the little door.” I put that anthem on my Advent playlist, yet I’d never really heard those words. Then […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Advent
Early Advent, just before Madonna and child begin to appear on Christmas cards, I went to the Cancer Risk and Genetic Assessment Center at our hospital. Because my mother died of pancreatic cancer, my doctor suggested I be scanned to see if I carry the gene mutation that tends to cause it. A woman brought […]
by David Anderson 8 Comments Filed Under: Advent, Uncategorized
Saturday is poem day for the Advent series, “The Dawn From On High” The God We Hardly Knew by Óscar Romero No one can celebratea genuine Christmaswithout being truly poor.The self-sufficient, the proud,those who, because they haveeverything, look down on others,those who have no needeven of God—for them therewill be no Christmas.Only the poor, the hungry,those […]
by David Anderson 1 Comment Filed Under: Advent
In Advent we replay the epic events of salvation history, to remind ourselves that redemption is still possible in our own day. The story of Noah is definitely on that list of God’s Greatest Hits. The whole earth is destroyed and only Noah and his family are preserved. When the storm and flood are over, […]
by David Anderson 1 Comment Filed Under: Advent