In Christ
My handwriting is bad. So bad, in fact, that even doctors—infamous for the unintelligible scribbles—look at my handwriting and say, “What did you write?” With that mea culpa (or if…
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In Christ
Unprecedented
“COVID-19 pandemic, an ‘unprecedented wake-up call’ for all inhabitants of Mother Earth.” “Unprecedented damage by COVID-19 requires an unprecedented policy response.” “Unprecedented!” The word screams at me from the headlines…
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Unprecedented
COVID casualties
More than four million infected and 148,866 deaths. Those are the coronavirus statistics shared by the US Centers for Disease Control at the end of July. Meanwhile, the World Health…
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COVID casualties
Getting older. Getting closer.
As a young boy, sometimes I’d think, In the year 2000, I’ll be 45 years old. Wow, that’s old! Guess what? My perspective has changed—in part because the year 2000…
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Getting older. Getting closer.
A man with unclean lips
The word “hell” keeps popping up in my reading these days. No, I’m not talking about my daily study of Scripture. I’m talking about the newsfeeds on my smartphone. These…
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A man with unclean lips
All I want for Christmas
Glenn L. Schwanke Age 7: “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, see my two front teeth.” Age 9: “I want an official…
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All I want for Christmas
The Lord, our shield
Glenn L. Schwanke August 15–17, 1969. Woodstock. Over a half million people flocked to Max Yasgur’s 600-acre dairy farm in upstate New York. There they rocked to Joan Baez; the…
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The Lord, our shield
On grief and grieving: A Christian perspective
Glenn L. Schwanke In 1969 Elisabeth Kübler Ross published her groundbreaking book On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families. The…
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On grief and grieving: A Christian perspective
Frogs in heated recliners
Glenn L. Schwanke I wake with a start, and it takes a few moments for me to realize it was only a dream. The dream? I’m sitting at the supper…
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Frogs in heated recliners