NIKI FLORICA

Ideas. Why is that such a scary word? Don't get any ideas. She's been filling her head with ideas. I think sometimes we forget that life is a process—a never-ending progression of ideas—and that living in this world means exposure to all kinds of them, just as living with Christ means being changed by the ideas he brought into the world when he came. I've lived most of my Christian life on the defensive. I knew what I believed and when I came against something that contradict

I can't imagine a bleaker point in history than the days between Christ's death and resurrection. If I were with Cleopas and his fellow traveler on the road to Emmaus that first Easter Sunday, they'd probably agree. I've never been to Emmaus. I couldn't tell you where to find it. It could have been a main road, a bustling place with lots of traffic where people could always be found, but I tend to imagine it on a more quiet scale. A less-traveled road to a backwater village,

There is something so nostalgic about snail mail. A couple days ago, I received a card in the mail from a friend, and it just infused my day with that dose of encouragement I can always use more of! Being the creative gal she is, she even sealed the envelope—as in, with a seal. A wax seal. I, for one, thought that was fantastic. I've always loved the idea of having my own seal. There's something so official and authoritative about it. It's not just a symbol: it's a declaratio

In Paul's letter to the Philippians, he demonstrates a selfless faith in Christ that is so zealous, so dedicated, so fearless, that I can't help but be a little . . . awed. I mean, the guy's in prison—in literal bonds for the Gospel—put there by those who have no desire to hear what he has to share. If anyone has the grounds to shy away from speaking out, he has certainly faced enough persecution to qualify. And yet, Paul takes just the opposite approach. He declares, "Accord