A couple of months ago my hubby Rob contracted shingles. It was definitely not an experience he would recommend to anybody. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox, and it runs along nerve pathways. Rob said his rash wasn’t itchy but felt more like a bruise or maybe a burn—very sensitive to the touch. The sensation of his shirt touching the skin on his left side was exceedingly…

It happens numerous times throughout the year. At a worship service I’ll be listening and trying to sing along with the text, and suddenly a hymn about the three Holy Youths appears—the friends of Daniel who were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship King Nebuchadnezzar. The service continues, and we return to our regularly scheduled programming. To this gal in the pews, the insertion feels like an interruption—a lovely…