On a recent weekday I was walking from my church’s fellowship hall into the nave to light a jar candle and pray for a friend in need. My thoughts were pinging around as usual, and I wasn’t feeling particularly spiritual. But when I opened the door to the narthex, my heart registered a sacred truth well before my mind caught up: I had entered a holy place. The signal came not from…

Have you seen anyone recently with a golden electric chair hanging from a chain around his neck? How about an elegant, elderly woman showing off a diamond guillotine brooch on her dress? Or maybe you spotted a buffed-up guy at GNC, buying a protein supplement while wearing a sterling silver noose over his tight workout shirt.   No? Me neither. Even in our depraved modern world, instruments of violent death aren’t used…