Author: Jon Gauger

“She’s living on borrowed time.”  That’s the conclusion a friend shared with me in a pensive moment.  He was referring to his wife’s recent bout with cancer. His remark caught me off guard because his wife has been cleared of any cancer.   Surgery removed every hint of it—and no chemo or radiation was required.  She’s in great health now, with no significant medical problems of any kind. “The truth is, we’re all living on borrowed time,” said my friend—reading the curious look on my face. I thought about his statement quite a while.  He’s right. We’re all living on borrowed…

You’d have thought it was a grenade. Instead, it was only the Bible. That's all Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty was using as he offered a Scriptural perspective on homosexuality.  A national firestorm followed.  But in the thunder of ideological gun shots, a curious scene played out in the neighborhood where my friend Jack lives. For a couple of years, now, he's been trying to build bridges into the life of a friend across the street—let's call him Stephen.  Jack relates how it's been a slow go, getting to know Stephen, trying to build into his life.   Stephen is gay…and…

With Christmas now past, allow me to play Scrooge for a moment as I suggest that for many, December the 25th might just be one of the most disappointing days of the year.   “Heresy!” you say. “Blasphemous!” you cry.                                                 …But hear me out…   Like you, I love the time off from work at Christmas…the gathering together of family and friends.  Truth is, I actually enjoy wrapping Christmas presents.  And I absolutely love the MUSIC of Christmas. So…please hear me loud and clear—that I personally love Christmas.   Yet I cannot escape the sense that for millions and…

Christmas—it’s under assault.  No question about it.  From manger scenes evictedfrom public property to schools refusing to use the word, “Christmas.”  But I’m not here to complain.  No, I’d like to pause…and celebrate. I wish to celebrate the fact that even as Uncle Sam rushes with sickening speed toward a pluralistic—even pagan–persona, traditional Christmas carols are still heard…virtually everywhere. It’s true, isn’t it? We were at a public high school Christmas concert this weekend.  What did we hear?  Silent Night…The First Noel…Do you hear what I Hear? We’re shopping at a major suburban Chicago mall, and I’m hearing, “Joy to…

It's been quite a day at the office.  Okay.  So maybe Hyderabad, India isn't my usual work space.  But it was today. One of our morning objectives was to visit a slum and capture some compelling images illustrating what life is like for a disturbing number of India's lowest caste, the Dalit’s. Shooting pro grade video is tough enough under optimal circumstances, much more so walking through unimaginable filth, inhaling wretched smelling air. Then you set up the tripod, unpack the audio gear (regretting the wires trailing lazily in the human muck) and realize you've left a critical filter back…

I saw a glimpse of heaven this week.  We're in India, looking at the power that a school run by Christians can have in impacting the problem of human trafficking. In a nutshell, India's Dalit caste—the lowest of the low–represents the vast majority of sex slaves in India.  Because the Dalits are so poor, they are often unable to afford schooling for their young.  Lacking the social network (safety) a school experience provides, these girls, whose parents are out working, become easy prey for the traffickers. Enter the Good Shepherd Schools—a growing network of English Medium Schools. Operated by Christians,…

They say the best actors don't act.  They are simply absorbed into the character they portray.  I had a taste of that during a recent tour of the Herod exhibit at Jerusalem's Israel Museum.   For years, I've had a fascination with Herod the Great.  Many know him only as the king in the Christmas story who executed Bethlehem's baby boys.  And make no mistake—Herod was ruthless, even vicious, toward any perceived threat.   But Herod the Great, for all his evil, was also a great architect, a great builder, a great visionary.   He loved color, beauty and luxury.   …

If holidays had families, Thanksgiving would be the unwanted stepchild.  Thanksgiving lacks the Hallmark beauty of Christmas and the Dick Clark fun of New Year's.  With stern-faced buckle shoed pilgrims as the holiday's heroes, nobody decorates their home with Mayflower lights.  Nor do we take part in Puritan parties.  Thanksgiving doesn't lend itself to much of that, so we don't lend much of ourselves to it.   Thanksgiving really is the overlooked stepchild. Consider the way Thanksgiving is treated at national retail stores: hardly at all. Outnumbered by mountains of Halloween candy and masks, Thanksgiving is lucky to get a small…

A  tuna sandwich and a Coke.  Such an ordinary lunch after such an extraordinary morning.  As I sit at a cafe overlooking Jerusalem, I am pondering an earlier walk down what is known to millions as the Via Dolorosa.  “The way of suffering” is the route Jesus walked through Jerusalem carrying his cross. The thing of it is, the Via Dolorosa today is the way of shopping and dickering and shouting.  The most common form of suffering is sore feet and aching backs.  It's tough to imagine the real Jesus dragging a real cross up and down the hilly path…

Behold: the banana! High in potassium, bananas are great for preserving your eyesight and accelerating bone growth—not to mention warding off kidney cancer. I like bananas…but this humble fruit has always amazed me. If you put any other food item remotely close to a banana… it ends up tasting like…banana! Put a banana in your lunch box next to a ham sandwich…and the ham tastes like banana. So do your potato chips—and your Oreo cookies. Recently, my wife put a left over slice of cinnamon coffee cake next to some bananas for just a few hours. Guess what it tasted…