Monday Moments

Monday Moments
Monday Moment: November 21, 2005
John chose to tell the story of this pool and of what happened there one day when Jesus walked by because he was struck by the name—Bethesda. It means “house of mercy.” He thought it ironic—and disturbing—that the place where people came to be made whole had so little effect on so many. The House of Mercy was full of disabled souls.

Monday Moments
Monday Moment: November 7, 2005
Miguel Cervantes, Spanish novelist, playwright and poet, was the creator of Don Quixote, the most famous figure in Spanish literature. A contemporary of Shakespeare (though they never met), Cervantes lived in a time when Spanish literature was marked by sloppy sentimentalism. For several years—following a period of colorful exploits, including naval warfare, slavery, imprisonment and work as a government bureaucrat—he wrote plays and novels of a conventional sort according to the poor but commonly accepted standards of his day.

Monday Moments
Monday Moment: October 17, 2005
Common wisdom says “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” But it all depends on which bird is in the bush.

Monday Moments
Monday Moment: September 26, 2005
Early in my ministry career I was a college chaplain and often spoke at youth retreats. On one such occasion I was traveling from Chicago to Seattle with two college students who were to provide music. We were on a United Airlines flight, and United at that time scheduled flight attendants to work together for an entire month. Somewhere over South Dakota they announced that because it was the last day of their working together, they were going to hold a talent contest for passengers. The winner would receive a bottle of champagne.

Monday Moments
Monday Moment: September 19, 2005
In many cultures a name has meaning beyond a syllable or two to distinguish one person from another. This was the case with Biblical names, so Adam, for example, meant “man,” and Eve came from the Hebrew word “to live” or “to breathe.” We are told that their sons were “Acquired” (Cain), “Breath” (Abel) and “Appointed” (Seth). Abraham was a contraction of two words meaning “father of many.” Sarah meant “lady” or “princess.”

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