Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Parables don’t tell us what to do or how to behave, they tell us something of the nature of God. It’s important to remember this as we read again one of the most well-known…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. My son Zachary was born during spring break of my second year of seminary. When he was 3 months old I had a crisis of faith. You see, he went in for his second…
As we enter this Lent, may we Pause, Reflect, Pray. Amen. We have entered Lent. Ash Wednesday reminded us that we are dust, and to dust we will return. We were invited into observing this holy season by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Some of us have accordingly given things up for these 40 days. Others have instead…
As we enter this Lent, may we Pause, Reflect, Pray. Amen. It has been said that on Ash Wednesday, Christians attend their own funerals. It is no mistake that this liturgy in which we partake leads us to contemplate our own mortality. We will soon be marked with ashes and admonished with these words: Remember that you are dust, and to…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Today we are on the mountaintop with Jesus and his closest friends. What happened up there is a mystery. It’s no mistake Jesus’ transfigured appearance evokes Moses’ shining face when in the presence of…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. In Jeremiah’s day, the work of a prophet was often a life or death matter – it was something you did because you loved God, and you loved…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. If Advent is a season of waiting, and Christmas is a season of pure celebration; if Lent is a season of repentance, then Epiphany is a season of doing. The anticipation and climatic celebration of…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, one of the four times in the church year set aside specifically for baptism, and with it we will baptize Emil John Ostrander and Henry Parks…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Today’s Gospel just has so much going on, it’s hard to know what to pay attention to. King Herod and the Temple authorities in Jerusalem, the Magi journeying from the East, a wild star,…
If in your heart you make a manger for his birth, then God will once again be born on earth. Possible things are easy to believe. The Glorious Impossibles are those things that bring joy to our hearts, hope to our lives, songs to our lips. The birth of Jesus was a…