For many, the first Sunday in Advent is a time to talk about hope. What kind of hope will sustain us in our present? The troubles in the world and in our lives are real. God’s hope is also real. I come alongside individuals, groups and communities in the context of natural and unnatural disasters.… Read More
RCL. October 31, 2021. How Will We Find A Way: Take These Questions With You
Some preachers may choose to work with this Sunday as Reformation Sunday and can do an internet search for working with those texts or search this site for such material. The material below, however, fits perfectly with the dynamics of Reformers searching for a new way, as well, even though the regular texts are used.… Read More
Monday Prayer, Oct 25, 2021.
When trouble comes, God. Hmmm. When trouble comes I still try to get ahead of it in a spiritual kind of way. I pretend If I can just get far enough in front of it I might be able to effect an ambush, put out both arms and stop the momentum. I will throw everything… Read More
Monday Prayer, October 18, 2021
Dear God, Last night the coyotes yipped and screeched outside my window and I thought of You. I knew they were looking for something to catch and devour and I was glad my old dog and cat were safe inside the house (and us, too). They are bold these days, standing on the front lawn… Read More
Monday Prayer: October 11, 2021
It’s been a strange time, God. I’ve lost track now of guidelines and rules. The online access to my vaccine record generates an error message. I have nothing to print and laminate. I am forgetting to mask not because I want to make a point, but because I’m 65 and just wearing down a little… Read More
Monday Prayer October 4, 2021
O, my Creator, in the injustice of my country I caught a glimpse of the bottom of the iceberg this week. I saw how my life lived above the waterline rests on wrong assumptions of privilege, great and small and many. I am cold inside. I don’t want to be cold inside. Undo my life… Read More
Revised Common Lectionary: What does God want to say to people walking by?
A colleague observed after leading outdoor worship for a few months that taking our “in-house” worship conversations outside to the church lawn where others could overhear them as they walked by has made her listen to those conversations differently. She was acutely aware of what came out of her mouth and how it might sound… Read More
Monday Prayer, August 30, 2021
A simple prayer for making sense of faith, again. Holy One, today may I feel your steadying hand upon me. May I hear your word of promise speaking within me. May I taste your mercy for myself and may I pray it for others. May I see glory in your caterpillar at my feet and… Read More
Revised Common Lectionary August 29, 2021. Into The Stew of Anger
This past week, the Rev. Michelle L. Torigian offered us a powerful and prophetic lament in the tradition of the psalmist. (https://revgalblogpals.org/2021/08/18/the-pastoral-is-political-anger-in-the-time-of-covid-19/) She wrote about anger in her life and our lives. She wrote about anger in the Bible and anger in communities of faith. She did not try to “solve” anger, instead talking about… Read More
Monday Prayer, August 23, 2021
A Season Is Leaving. Another Is Coming. Dear God, They were selling mums at the grocery story this week. Potted mums. Rust, gold, orange, brick red and yellow. Two sizes of pots. You know how I dread when the mums come out. It means summer is closing. I love the fall, God, I truly do,… Read More