Barnabas File

I was at a meeting a short distance from our local hospital, when my wife called and asked me to come to the maternity ward at quickly as possible.    The daughter of a longtime family friend was there to deliver her first child, and there were complications.   When I arrived at the maternity ward, I learned that the mother had delivered a healthy baby, but she had died.  The grief on the floor was palpable.  Not only family and friends were in tears, but the medical staff was stunned.  This was meant to be a place of celebration not grief.  Our pastor had been called by the family, but he found himself ministering to the staff as well as the family.  The chaplain was there to provide support for all.   I was reminded of this when we recently welcomed a new great grandchild into our family.  Like her sister, she came several weeks early. Both mother and daughter are well, but the baby had to stay in the Nata...

Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen None of us really knew what we were getting into when we started watching Marvel’s WandaVision on Disney+.     If you stuck with it through all nine episodes, you have been rewarded with one of the most moving and human stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.       One of the aspects of the MCU that sets its characters apart from other franchises is their humanity.  They may be gifted with superpowers, but they are ultimately human (even the synthetic life forms).  For me, it is not the big action sequences that draw me in and keep me involved but the intimate human moments of love, loss, sacrifice, and remembrance.  The pivotal scenes in the final episode of WandaVision are not the battles but the goodbyes. Someone observed that Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) is the most traumatized character in the MCU, but there is plenty of trauma to go around there.  Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.)...

“There is a time   for everything,   and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” -- Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 4, NIV   During these days of pandemic, much of what we consider normal and routine has changed.  We are no longer able or willing to pursue life in the ways we always have.  A heart-wrenching challenge for family members has been their separation from loved ones who have been hospitalized.  Many are denied physical access to those who are dying due to concern about the COVID-19 infection.     Mourning has also been a challenging in a time of social distancing and mask-wearing.  More families have opted for simple graveside services with family and close friends, giving up on a memorial service or hoping to have a fitting service later.   These are als...

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” -- Leo Tolstoy We often think about and plan for change in society, culture, and organizations, but ultimately all change is personal.  Whenever something shifts in our environment, we are impacted by the change. On the personal level, it may be entering into or leaving a marriage.  On a family level, it might be the birth of a child, the departure of a young adult to take on a job or pursue education, or the loss of a loved one.  On the professional level, the change may occur due to taking a new position or losing an old one.  These relationship and environmental changes have direct personal implications for us as individuals. We often fail to see that organizational changes also are personal.  When your church decides to add a new worship service and change the Sunday schedule, your world changes.  Extended family may choose to attend another s...