The NU Blog Page

I have five suggestions for facing a devastating crisis. Sooner or later, each of us will be called on to care for someone in a time of unparalleled grief.  A daughter is tragically killed in an automobile accident.  A friend’s pet dog is diagnosed with cancer. Hurricanes and tornadoes strike unexpectedly. When loss and crisis…

“Medical Emergency, Room 3312, Dr. Stat!” I was visiting a local hospital recently when the announcement came over the PA system. “Medical Emergency, Room 3312, Dr. Stat!” And we all know what happened next.  The doctors, the nurses, the crash cart, the chaplain all came running to address the emergency in Room 3312.  It was…

Last week I attended a conference on an island in the Mediterranean Sea.  The meeting included a series of lessons delivered by a highly thought of preacher from California who spoke five times over four days; all on the twelfth chapter of Romans.  That amounts to a total of five hours on one chapter!  This…

What is evangelistic success? An evangelist in western Nigeria recently sent me an intriguing question. “Many a times we in the third world are faced with different challenges during evangelism.  One of such is, ‘What can your Christ do for me?’ It seems the message of eternal life and the peace within no longer work.…

Staying with Jesus and following in his footsteps. By Guest Contributor Fr. Carlos Rodriguez, OCSO and Chaplain, Abbey of Gethsemani (Fr. Carlos Rodriguez is a Trappist Monk who came originally from the Philippines.  I have personally visited with him several times during the past few years.  He preached this homily on January 14, one day…

What is fearful courage? By Lifeline Chaplaincy’s Dr. Virgil Fry I know fear. Low-grade or full-blown anxiety. Fretful worry. Recently I cleared out a stash of papers from 2006, the year my wife, Caryl, was on dialysis. Reviewing the list of multiple doctor visits, hospitalizations, and medications surfaced intense feelings deeply buried in my psyche.…

I am listening to Hebrews these days. Each morning I’ve been listening to an audio recording of the letter to the Hebrews, usually while shaving and doing my ‘morning routine.’  After a month of this, the text is rolling around in my head like a song that won’t go away!  That’s a good thing, and…

“DIVINE DISTRACTION” by Guest Author Scott Gilliam, Haiku poet Another Advent. It’s start for me delayed by Attention to work. Fleeting time to pray. Airports and hotels my church. But God won’t give up. He knows I’m stressed out. He knows I’m at my wits end. So He tries “Plan B.” “B” for Bethlehem? I…

So, what is God up to? Sea shells line the beach in meandering five-foot threads that stretch hundreds of yards ahead. Shells of every size, geometry and colorful hue. Pristine, unbroken specimens intermixed with crushed remnants of what had been. All waiting for the morning waves to lap over them in nature’s caressing but never…

The truth about unity. Chris Tomlin is a famous contemporary composer of Christian hymns.  It seems he is also a gifted writer as evidenced by this week’s guest Reflection on “The Truth About Unity in the Church”.  I’m not sure I would buy every last word he has written but he certainly gets down to…