The Ten Bible Women Who Spoke the Most
Who were the ten women who said the most in the Bible? Counting down...
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Bible Women: Bright Lights in the Freezing Darkness
Bible women suffer horrible loss, and at times are like pawns moved around on a patriarchal chess board, but they remain bright lights in sacred history. Ever wonder what it was like for women in biblical times? We know this much: life was exceedingly tough, especially in the violent pre-monarchy years. Women were routinely assigned marriage partners by their fathers or brothers for...
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Over the Transom: God’s Surprise Agents
What do we know about Bible women? Research conclusion #3: They come “over the transom,” as God’s surprise agents. In the days before central heating and air-conditioning, hotel rooms sported a large pane of glass over each guest’s doorway that could be opened for heat or fresh air. Old movies were famous for showing thieves, con men and lovers propelling themselves...
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The 5 Women Who Speak Most in the Bible
After four years of research, and studying every page of the Bible, we can identify ninety-three specific woman in the Bible who spoke. Some of those are individuals (seventy-eight spoke individually), and the rest are in groups. Many faith communities are bigger. Most schools are bigger. A group that size would not fill the seats in the United States Senate. A...
Read MoreRead MoreJesus: Consider Creeping Charlie
I could use Jesus in our garden this year, with all of the rain that has multiplied weeds by the thousands, if not millions—but Jesus is not a gardener. Here’s the proof, in his own words, better known as his Parable of the Sower: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and...
Read MoreRead MoreGod bless older women
[caption id="attachment_558" align="alignright" width="300"] Sarah, in her early ‘90s, holding son Isaac.[/caption] from today’s Forward Day by Day meditations Matthew 20:26, 28. Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant…just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. I admit it. This reflection is a tribute, a tribute to older women in their seventies and...
Read MoreRead MoreA Mother’s Love
Matthew 15:26-27. Jesus said, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” One of the most vexing stories in the New Testament—where Jesus appears cold and even rude—is among the most compelling accounts of faith in biblical...
Read MoreRead MoreThe Peace of God
Matthew 14:27. Immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” In early 2001, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, resulting in surgery and six months of chemotherapy. With that came the many side effects: hot flashes, insomnia, brain drain, weight gain, fatigue. One morning about 4:00 a.m., I awoke parched, drenched with sweat. This...
Read MoreRead MoreTragic Consequences
Today’s Forward Day by Day meditation, in which I highlight the only full mother-daughter conversation in the Bible Matthew 14:8. Prompted by her mother, [Salome] said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And so it was done: John the Baptist—the holy and rugged prophet who had so eloquently announced the coming of Jesus—was forever and brutally...
Read MoreRead MoreOn Keeping the Sabbath
Reprinted from Forward Movement, Day by Day by Lindsay Hardin Freeman Nehemiah 13:19. When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. No longer are stores closed on Sunday. No longer are sports practices or games put...
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