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Check out the latest from Gather magazine.
What are Christians to think about poverty and policy?
When Jesus says, “The poor you will always have with you” (John 12:8), he is, among other things, quoting from Deuteronomy 15: “Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I [God] therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor...
Tanzania: A WELCA-supported mentoring and scholarship program for girls
As part of Women of the ELCA’s global engagement trip to Arusha and Meru, Tanzania, Valora Starr, director of discipleship; Eva Yeo, director of membership; and Nola Smith, a WELCA participant; join women and girls from the African Girls Scholarship & Mentorship...
Behold, I am doing a new thing
It’s my fifth winter in Wichita, Kansas. Five years ago, before traveling 1,322 miles (about 20 hours by car and in a different time zone) away from my family and friends, I never saw myself standing in this space for my first call as a pastor. Back then, the world...
Anything to declare?
At any given moment, we are carrying around at least six different varieties of seeds. Yes, seeds. Biologists observe that our bodies—being part of the ecosystems in which we live— participate in the dispersion of local plant life by unknowingly harboring and...
Greed and the Christian life
When the “Varsity Blues” scandal came to light in 2019, I wrote about the problem of greed in human life. The Varsity Blues scandal involved wealthy parents of high schoolers who hired a “consultant” to help their children cheat their way into elite colleges. The...
Finding beauty in the cold
For me, fall is such a peculiar time —the sweet spot between my beloved summers and dreaded winters. My family has an ongoing joke that one fall, we’ll finally move someplace warmer and sunnier. October and November always bring that conversation back. But autumn and...
Hey, God!
“A squirrel holds an acorn in its praying hands, offering thanks, it looks like. The broken shells fall on the grass, and the grass looks up and says ‘Hey.’ And the squirrel looks down and says, ‘Hey.’ I have been saying ‘Hey,’ lately too To God. Formalities just...
How to befriend someone
Friends don’t just magically appear. We make friends from among the strangers all around us. Since no two people are alike, no two people approach making friends the same way. Here are seven suggestions: Accept variations. Even Jesus, who we sing about in the hymn...
Conflict and boundaries
One of the first words that toddlers learn is “No,” which I used to think this was a bad thing. After all, I’m more of a “yes” person. I want to be helpful. I want to be of service. I don’t want to let people down. I learned this in my family of origin. In some ways,...
And God saw Hagar
I did not expect to hear from the women seated in a makeshift tent at Arkoum refugee camp in eastern Chad, 43 miles from the Sudan border. On that 86-degree day last December, we met with several leaders of newly arrived Sudanese refugees. Many of these leaders were...