‘Where the Wild Things Are’

By Christopher Yoder And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. — Mark 1:13 In Maurice Sendak’s delightful children’s... Read More...

To Tremble With Glee

By Christopher Yoder The Cherry Tree Carol has roots in medieval mystery plays and, ultimately, an apocryphal story about the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, in which a cherry tree bows low so that ... Read More...

On Testimony

By Christopher Yoder I wish to say a word or two in favor of the practice of giving one’s “testimony.” That is, narrating for others how God has been at work in one’s life. It is, of course, a practice commo... Read More...

Martha and Mary

Adapted from a sermon given on the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost at All Souls’, Oklahoma City  By Christopher Yoder They say there are two kinds of people in the world. Robert Frost said there are “some wi... Read More...

The Scouring of the White Horse

By Christopher Yoder   On a hill in the Berkshire Downs in southern England, there is an enormous, abstract figure of a horse cut into chalk. The white lines of the chalk horse stand out sharply from the sur... Read More...

Ten Words and a Consuming Fire

Exodus 17:8–20:21 By Christopher Yoder For six weeks they wandered in the wilderness. They had sung with joy when they walked through the sea on dry ground and into freedom. They were deliriously happy. The... Read More...

For All Souls Day

By Christopher Yoder Since at least the 11th century, western Christians have prayed for the dead on this day, All Souls Day. Others have written here about the history of All Souls Day, its abeyance in clas... Read More...

Distraction

We keep ourselves busy with school and work and play — all to avoid being alone in a quiet room. We fill our lives with distractions to avoid knowing ourselves, to avoid seeing and thinking about what we are, where we come from, where we are going.