Our bloggers are reflecting on travel, and the baggage we carry, this week. They are our tour guides into new spiritual territory. Beginning with the intriguing lament, “I have always wanted to be a tiny-purse carrier,” Melissa Bane Sevier reflects on what we carry around, and Jesus’ instructions to his disciples not to carry a… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
God who creates with a word, a Word that takes on life and breath, we know that words have power. Within them is the power to be your Word, or to be hateful, ugly, demeaning, to come to life as words that shatter and destroy. When words become bombs, or knives, or laws, bring your… Read More
Friday Festival: Popsicle Time
mmer is coming! In some places where school ends early, it’s here. Whether we live on a school year calendar or not, summer brings a lift to the spirits, and the hope of a change in our routine. Some people travel, and others take dinner outside. Some of us develop a daily ice cream ritual,… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Creating God, as our feet touch the floor, or the earth, today, may we draw in your strength with each step, moving us forward in your plans. Tender Jesus, as our eyes light on in all others whom we meet, may we see with your compassion, and share it back. Enlivening Spirit, as we take… Read More
Narrative Lectionary – Before and After (Galatians 1:13-17, 2:11-21)
A staple feature of women’s magazine’s is the makeover. We get the “before” picture, with the disorganized closet, the unflattering haircut or the dated clothes. Then the experts take over, and we see the “after” picture of the functional closet, the arresting haircut, or the stylish new clothes. One magazine, bowing to reality, used to… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Infinite God, this day you gave us will claim us in bits and nibbles, in the buzz of a new text, in beeping phones and shiny screens. A little solitaire while we wait for a friend, a quick order, a bite of the latest news. and the day fills. Help us, we pray, to claim… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Grace-filled God, as the sun travels across the sky, some of your people search in garbage cans for food, or open empty cupboards again, while others are fed too much. Some wait in hospital beds, while others plan funerals. Some walk to school, looking over their shoulders with worry, and others are being called ugly… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Surprising Jesus, this is the season when you appear around corners, through closed doors, traveling along the road, or letting us put our hands in your side, breathing on us, or feeding us breakfast. You do the most ordinary and the most extraordinary of things. Keep us alert, we pray, to moments of resurrection. Open… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Heartburn (Luke 24:13-35)
Journalist Cokie Roberts said once that, decades after her father’s death, she still thinks she sees him on the streets of Washington, D.C., the city where he lived and worked. Someone with a similar gait, or mannerisms, will catch her eye, and for a brief, impossible moment, she thinks it’s her father. We have the… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Lost Souls (Luke 16:19-31)
I recently damaged the side mirror on my car, and was lamenting the need to go to the dealer for a replacement. Sad previous experience had taught me that this would be very expensive. “Don’t do that,” one of our church custodians told me, “there’s a much cheaper way to do it.” He told me… Read More
