Fourthstream

Evenings in our house are usually a little chaotic. With a four-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, quiet moments are rare. I was downstairs cooking dinner one night when our son came barreling down the stairs: “Mommy, mommy! Geni said a bad word!” We don’t swear in our house, so I’m always curious what qualifies — “What did she say?” His answer: “She said 6, 7!” That phrase is controversial enough that in our house, we stick with “better safe than sorry.” I asked my daughter if she even knew what it meant. “Not really,” she said — and that got me thinking. So much of what unsettles us about culture today is exactly that: the meaninglessness of it. From trendy trinkets people impulse-buy online to senseless violence that ends a life over nothing, so much of it traces back to hedonism — the belief that pleasure and happiness are

Mother’s Day was a week ago, so this is probably a late sentiment — but it’s something I can’t let go of. In my Bible-in-a-year plan, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Gospels and just recently hit the Gospel of Luke. As a mom, this gospel resonates with me more than the others, likely because much of it was written as Mary’s biography. Luke is alleged to have actually met with her before beginning his writing. One verse in particular has continued to run through my mind. It’s from Luke 2, when Mary and Joseph arrive at the temple to dedicate Jesus to the Lord. They are confronted by two very devout followers of God — Simeon and Anna — both fairly advanced in years. This is one of those passages where you have to read between the lines to understand what’s really transpiring. The Temple of