It is said that time seems to move faster as we get older. In some ways, I think that has been true for me. I wake up on a Jan. 1 and the next thing I know we are celebrating New Year’s Eve. But 2022 has not moved so quickly. It has seemed interminable.

I was asked to share something important about Judaism that non-Jews might not know. So many possible answers raced through my mind! I had a very difficult time narrowing it down. So I posed the question to Jewish friends of all branches and observance and I’ve compiled their results. I’m presenting their answers along with their names and notes about which branches of Judaism they identify with.

A survey from the global marketing firm Ipsos found many Americans think the meaning of the season is lost.

"The Infancy Gospel of James," though not part of the canonical Bible, was popular among Christians for centuries. The book tells the story of Mary from her miraculous conception to the birth of Jesus. Some details differ from the accounts in Luke and Matthew.

“Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God? ... Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God? ... Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?” These three questions are asked in Baptism and Confirmation services in my Lutheran church and probably in similar services in some other Christian churches. To each question, those assembled are asked to respond, “I renounce them.”

Thanks to some quick coordination between government and faith-based institutions, some homeless in Spokane now have new and safer places to sleep.