As people have enjoyed my books, they began using them as the basis for small group study and discussion.  This has led me to at last create full-blown small group curricula.

The first of these efforts was done in my role as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Bible Society.  All profit from the courses in Exploring the Bible: The Dickinson Series goes to the Massachusetts Bible Society and its ministries. 

Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward."  So they took it.  When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now."   &nb

Minuteman Statue in Lexington, Mass.

In the poem entitled "Concord Hymn," Ralph Waldo Emerson called the first shot of the American Revolution the "shot heard 'round the world."  That shot was fired in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775 and Emerson's grandfather, a local minister, was the first man to show up, gun in hand, after the alarm was sounded.  Seventy-six other men joined him.  By the time they reached Concord, Mass. they were 400 strong.  By day's end, there were 3800 colonists engaged in the battle for freedom. It is this first battle of the war that is commemorated in Massachusetts on Patriots' Day.

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did not do for me."                     --Matthew 25:45

In case you missed it, there was a dining incident in St. Louis that has gone viral.  A St. Louis pastor went to Applebee's as part of a large group that ran up a tab of over $200.  When the bill came, an 18% gratuity had been added to the total--a practice very common in the restaurant industry.  The pastor balked, and wrote a note on the bill saying, "I give God 10%, why do you get 18%?"  She then crossed out the $6.29 gratuity and put a big, fat 0 in its place.

"Then Job replied:

"God is love"  1 John 4:8b

He came to the church tonight because the sign out front said there was a Taize service.  There wasn't.  It had been moved to last week and no one changed the sign.  The man was angry.  His father died last week, which is why he was in Boston, trying to help his 94-year-old mother cope with losing her partner of 72 years. He needed the solace of the service.  The pastor of the church apologized and invited him to stay for supper and the Bible study I was leading.  It took about 20 minutes of convincing and calming, but the man stayed.

Dear Mr. Romney,

I watched your comments to those who paid $50,000 to have dinner with you.  If you weren't a candidate for President, I would simply be disgusted and keep my peace.  But you are trying to take the helm of my country--to shape policies that will affect my life and the lives of those I love.  The video, taken when you thought no one was watching, reveals a frightening callousness that I can only pray never darkens the door of the Oval Office.

A long-time friend of mine wrote on my Facebook page, "Somewhere in New York it says, 'Give me your tired, your poor.'  Well people are tired and people are poor. What are we to tell them?"

Sacrifice of Jepthah's Daughter

"It is a snare for one to say rashly, 'It is holy,' and begin to reflect only after making a vow." Proverbs 20:25

As businesses, economists, and foreign governments look on with disbelief, the political talk in Washington has somehow become all about vows.  Suddenly there seem to be all these vows that politicians are being asked to sign, from vows about opposing same-sex marriage to vows to avoid tax increases no matter what.

"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."  Mark 2:27
 

Like millions of others in America this week, I watched the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial being handed down.  Like just a handful of others, however, I was not surprised at her acquittal.  Yes, I think she's guilty of killing her young daughter and I would bet most every juror thinks so, too.  But I have realized for some time now that, with just a few exceptions, we no longer have a justice system.  We have a legal system.