Posts by Stephen Collins

A couple nights ago I told my littlest daughter that no spider in a nightmare can ever physically hurt her. I told her so as she was climbing into bed because at that moment she was not fearful of any real and present spider but of one that might again make its shadowy way into her unconscious dream perception. She grinned and was ready to sleep, newly emboldened. She unde...

Recently, I tried for a moment to imagine whom 2020 would be if it were a person. I couldn’t settle on one, though. Consciously avoiding being too political, I figured 2020 might be a mix of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tom Buchanan, Shakespeare’s Iago, the Thomas brothers’ Predator, and probably the Zodiac Killer. You know, insecurity and power, cruel deception, and viol...

When asked what is the greatest commandment the Lord answered that it is to love God with everything you are and to love your neighbor as you love yourself (cf., Mark 12:28-31). The infinite Creator and Sustainer of the universe provides for us one word to define how we ought to act, feel, and think toward God and man. Love. ...

Many of us have heard stories of others’ sufferings that cause us to think something like, “Oh my goodness; I have no problems.” Or, “Wow, compared to that person’s suffering, I have no right to complain.” Leaving a right to complain aside: these are often unhelpful and possibly even unfaithful responses to the sufferings we witness and experience....

At times, we rejoice in the miraculous and saving grace of God, chiefly made known in and through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In those times, we can almost taste heavenly wine on our lips. The sun standing still in the sky seems a small feat for Omnipotence. Eternal glory is as real as any earthly country we might visit. But in other seasons...