Current articles

by Patricia Lull

“Will you join us?” The question came as a voice message on my phone last fall. The caller was a neighboring rabbi, a leader in local inter-faith initiatives. The us was a group of Jewish and Muslim faith leaders who had committed to work together on a hunger awareness initiative. They were reaching out to me, a Christian faith leader, to join them in a weeklong experiment of living on a food stamp budget.

by Valora K Starr & Eva James Yeo

We cleared customs in early December, and there in a sea of greeters were our tour guide and several women from the National Lutheran Church Women Fellowship in Liberia (NLCWFL). We exchanged hugs that felt like we returned home to love ones who missed us. But really we were receiving greetings from strangers.

In the warm night air above the chatter of the group we heard “Welcome to Liberia!” We were impressed that four women would wait for our flight—delayed four hours—and greet us with such warmth. We were surprised when many more women were waiting for us outside, singing in the humid night to welcome us in the Liberian way—drums and shakers, voices, and more hugs.

by Julie A. Kanarr

Who was John the Baptist? Any seasoned veteran of children’s sermons can tell you the basics: John was that wild man who showed up in the wilderness wearing strange clothes and eating weird food like honey-covered grasshoppers. He told everybody to repent. He baptized Jesus.

Although the Christian church has designated June 24 as John’s feast day, he may be more familiar to Christian worshippers as that biblical character who shows up every Advent.

by Marguerite M. Rourk

“What’s in a name?” asks Juliet referring to young Mr. Romeo Montague. “...that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...” (Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare).

Miss Capulet was right. What matters is what something is, not what it’s called. And like a rose, hunger by any other name is still hunger. The Bible contains nearly 100 references to some form of the word hunger, or to longing, yearning, or desiring as hungering. True, there is a kinder hunger, a pleasant anticipation, a gentle craving for someone or something beloved, or for yesteryears as memories recall or sentiments idealize them.