Problems everywhere. My Nigerian brothers and sisters call problems Wahala. You would either hear, "Wahala no dey finish," or "Problems no dey finish." They both mean the same thing - we don’t run out of problems. Problems don’t ever finish. Everyone is dealing with problems, whether at school, work, home, church, sports, the store, or elsewhere. Wherever there are human beings, there are problems, and they don’t seem to go away. You solve one problem, and another problem man

Since 1619, when a group of Africans was brought to the shores of Virginia on the White Lion, millions of enslaved Africans were later brought to these shores, almost always against their will. They were bound by chains and locks and whatever restraining instrument you can think of. The enslaved Africans were often starved for days. The enslaved Africans sat and slept in human waste for weeks. The enslaved African got sick and never got any treatment. Those who couldn’t survi

Jollof Rice is a West African delicacy. It is believed to have first started in the Senegambia region of West Africa. Due to migration and travel, it has spread throughout the entire region and further afield. This delicacy has generated significant interest among people who are not from that region. It has generated some heated competition among people from the Senegambia region, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria. People from these different countries believe that t

Of the many commercials that air on TV, I find two emotionally challenging. One of them is about hungry children in underdeveloped countries. The other one is about hungry abandoned pets. The message about these two commercials is simple: your donation and mine would provide the food hungry children and abandoned pets need. We can argue that the commercials are meant to play on our emotions and motivate us to donate, but the real point is, if you have felt the ache of hunger

Astronaut Christina Koch’s description of planet Earth left me in awe. She said that, from where they were, the Earth felt like an object hanging out there. It appeared insignificant and was covered with darkness. To an extent, it sounded indifferent, but underneath that was a sense of awe, and feelings of gratitude that she had had such an indescribable opportunity to have seen a part of God’s creation that only four people out of the billions of people on planet Earth had e

A few weeks ago, I told the story of Nasrudin, a protagonist of Middle Eastern folklore. One night, Nasrudin was approaching his house when he realized he had lost his key. He tried to look for it, but the night was so dark he could hardly see anything. He got down on his hands and knees, but it was still too dark to see. Moving backward toward a street lamp, he again got down on and began to search the area under the light. A neighbor came by and asked what he was doing. Nas

This past Saturday, I participated in the Spiritual Direction portion of the Center for Spiritual Nourishment offerings at our church. The session was led by Carol Abbott, who is a certified Spiritual Director and a member of the congregation. Carol led us to reflect on the practice of waiting. For those of us who may not know, waiting is itself an important spiritual practice. Some time back, I learned about this practice of waiting in silence myself. And because of this pra

Each year, the Wednesday Evening Lenten Supper Series is one of the most enriching experiences of the season. We are always thankful to the members of Christ Church's Spiritual Life Commission, who work so hard to put this, and other, events together. The WELS series offers five weeks of insightful, life-transforming seminars, and the first session was a very well-attended success. Tonight, our own Father Manny will present his perspective on our 2026 Spiritual Life Theme, Bu

A few months ago, my family celebrated the 40-year anniversary of my father’s passing. It was a surreal moment for me. When I had the opportunity to speak, one of the points that I made was that I am not sure if I ever fully grieved my father’s passing. I still carry with me some residue of grief, and I don’t know if I will ever get over it. Grief, in itself, is a powerful human experience that encompasses every single aspect of our lives. The truth is, we grieve because of l

This past Saturday, I participated in the faith-based conflict resolution training sessions offered by the Diocese of Maryland in collaboration with the Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center. It was the second of three sessions. As part of our ice breaker, we engaged in a group activity of fixing a dish or making a meal. The dish itself and some of the ingredients should represent accountability , trust, grace, and stewardship . Each group could make whatever dish they want

I wonder if you remember the nature of relationships that you have had over the years and what impact they have had on you. Over the years, I have given myself the chance to reflect on one that had this profound effect on me. We met at vacation classes during our three-month summer break when I was a rising 9th grader. Back in those days, the school year calendar was similar to what we have in the United States. In the United States, the academic year began in mid- to late Au

I am not sure about my first Super Bowl experience. It was held on January 28, 2001, about a month after my arrival in the United States. I don’t remember anything about it, and even if I watched the game, I don’t remember anything about the game or the half-time show. My memory of the Super Bowl at that time is murky at best, but over the years I have come to really enjoy the aura, hype, energy, and excitement surrounding different aspects of the Super Bowl. It isn’t all abo

The city of brotherly love. I love Philly cheesesteak. I used to drive to South Philadelphia with my children to get the original Philly cheesesteak. But for some strange reason, I am not a big fan of Philadelphia because the disparity in income, neighborhoods, and socio-economic status, among other things, disappointed me greatly. Depending on which part of Philadelphia you were in, it would look either safe or terribly unsafe, or it could look rich or poor. Sometimes, it fe

This past Sunday, we all worshipped online. One of the silver linings of the pandemic was the way many congregations were forced to be innovative and to respond to their new reality with ingenuity. Not that online worship was nonexistent - it wasn’t. Many congregations held services online. But many more churches lacked an online presence because these congregations, including Christ Church, didn’t have the resources to maintain one. I remember asking Chris, our Communication

Every Lent, your beloved Christ Church invites parishioners to write a story, share an article, a poem, or a prayer for our Lenten Meditation Booklet. The story may be about your personal faith journey; it could be an experience you may have had, or your loved one may have had or anything that invoked a sense of awe and wonder. Whenever I make my pitch, I typically say something like this ‘Everyone has a story to tell.’ I offer this pitch with all conviction because I believe

Every Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend leaves me with profound feelings of sadness mixed with gratitude. It is always a mixed feeling. I cannot help juggling these two balls: gladness over the progress we have made, and melancholy over the sad, sad state of affairs for millions in our country who do not feel any sense of welcome or belonging. And even if they do, there’s this question about whether others believe in them. In my reflections on Dr. King and many in the Civil

I give great thanks to God for the New Year and for each of you, my beloved and faithful parishioners. I offer thanks to you for the many ways in which you bless this community of faith with your faithfulness. I give thanks to God for the opportunity of serving you and for beginning this new year with you. My heart always burns with love for you and for walking alongside you in faith, and I am grateful for the positive energy that abounds here at Christ Church. Each new year

It's been two thousand years since the night that shepherds watched their flocks and an angel appeared to them with the message of the good news of a Savior’s birth. It's been over two thousand years since God directly intervened in human history, with majesty and mystery. The world since then has been daily transformed by ordinary people who have felt themselves transformed and their lives saved by the good news of Jesus Christ. The gospel’s joy rests in the fact that each a

Christmas Eve, 2025 Building Relationships Through Love. Rev. Emmanuel Mercer “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” John’s prologue is so beautiful and awe-inspiring. I get chills whenever I read that text because it points to the beginning of everything. Its beauty rests, first in the poetry and second, the mystery that it evokes. The poetry gives us the chance to a

This is part 2 of two; read part one here Sometime after he got his new gig, in another storm, Stuart saw a young woman stuck on the side of the road with a smoking engine and a frightful face. He pulled over. “I… I can’t pay you,” she whispered. Stuart smiled. “You don’t have to,” he said. “Just pass the kindness forward.” Because you never know whom you’re stopping for, and you never know whom you become the moment you decide to stop. That, to me, was such a powerful expres