Holy One, I give you thanks for the water turned to wine, For the miracle that allows the party to continue, For Jesus’ first sign Which is not a disease healed, not a prejudice corrected, not an authority challenged –he will get there—You will get there— But first it is the wine First it is… Read More
Wits-Ends-Day: Walls to Build
There has been a lot of talk about walls lately. At the risk of making my humor column “too political,” I will say that I’m not a big fan of the proposed $5.7 billion barrier between the United States and Mexico. I mean, since Christ breaks down dividing walls of hostility (Colossians 2:14), this seems,… Read More
Saturday Prayer: New Year, Rough Start
Holy God, Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and the End, Creator of Time and Eternity: It’s the first Saturday of the new year And things aren’t going according to plan. OK, that’s not exactly true. Things aren’t going according to the plan I would have made, If I had taken the time to make a… Read More
Wits’-Ends-Day: Christmas Edition
‘Tis 2 weeks before Christmas with so much to do There’s no way you can finish without four of you. The sermons are nestled all snug in your head And refuse to come out in words to be said. The choir is flustered and singing off key, With just one more practice before Christmas Eve.… Read More
Saturday Prayer: A Few Questions
God, I know that Pilate is not a person to emulate, But I find myself wishing that I, too, could interrogate you. My question is his question: What is the truth? I think I know, but others think otherwise, And there’s a lot of anger and confusion and yelling going on right now. So if… Read More
Saturday Prayer: Thank You
God of life, We give you thanks For families and feasts, For aloneness and enough; For music and laugher, For silence and sorrow; For long journeys home, And for the homes we make where we are. Thank you for anticipation and fulfillment, For excitement and tranquility, For busyness and uselessness; For work and for ease.… Read More
Wit’s Ends Day: Another Gratitude List
I’m not great at keeping a daily gratitude practice—or a daily anything practice, really. But I do enjoy putting together a little Thanksgiving gratitude list once in awhile. (Like here and here.) It allows me to reflect on the blessings in my life and also to have a humor column when my brain is not… Read More
Saturday Prayer: For All Saints Weekend
God of eternity, We have gathered our saints around us. All saints. All souls. We have gathered them for comfort And for wisdom And for strength. We have gathered them as a reminder Of your presence. Because we can see how you were with them, And so maybe those coming after Will look back on… Read More
Wits-Ends-Day: Talking to Myself
You know those cartoons where a person has a little angel sitting on one shoulder trying to get them to do the right thing while a horned-but-cute devil sits on the other shoulder giving them bad advice? I know it doesn’t really work like that, but it sure feels like it some weeks when I’m… Read More
Saturday Prayer: For Brokenness
God, whose peace passes understanding, For broken spirits and broken bodies, we pray. For broken hearts and broken minds, we pray. For broken procedures and broken systems, we pray. Hear our prayers. Absorb our grief. Inhabit our anger. Let our path be lit by the fire of your love. Amen. Rev. Joanna Harader serves as… Read More
