Our bloggers are talking about the experience of being displaced, moved out of the familiar into something new. Life moves us into new places and routines, or God can call us into a holy displacement. It’s a mystery gift that involves discomfort as we move toward something different. Other times it’s just painful. As relationships… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Soap Opera in Egypt (Genesis 39:1-23)
Some people live their whole lives in the same hometown, marry the person next door, and work in the family business. Not much changes in their lives from year to year. Joseph is not one of those people. He has more ups and downs in a month than most people ever experience. He moves from… Read More
Friday Festival: Lasting Gifts
In summer’s last days, I have the sense of time zipping past – the days feel fleeting. Our bloggers offer a vision of things that last, some of which may be a little too permanent. Jan Edmiston is questioning what to do when your church sign is a tombstone. Does it – unintentionally or not… Read More
Friday Festival: Summer Companions
Our bloggers are finding interesting company this August, as summer begins to wind down. Their companions, human and otherwise, reveal places where God is at work, re-shaping us even more fully into the divine image within us. Susan K. Smith is considering the company we keep when we are silent about white supremacy. She recalls… Read More
Friday Festival: Under the Surface
Our bloggers are looking at ordinary encounters from all sides this week, seeing the spiritual layer of things beneath our everyday encounters with people and God. Deb Mechler is reflecting on the power of spiritual direction to shape our view of the world. Recently certified as a spiritual director herself, she notes the ways that… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
God of remembrance, we call to mind today those whom we have prayed for, and forgotten for a time. For the kidnapped young women of Nigeria, as they cook a meal, or suffer through more abuse, tend a child, or think of home, make your protection and peace abundant. For those seeking food, or a doctor, or… Read More
Friday Festival: Messy Middles
In the middle of the month of May, our bloggers are also in the middle of things. Physical buildings and new visions and prayers are coming to life. The midst of a construction project is not a fun place to be, as Marguerite Sheehan writes in from there to here and more to go, but… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
So much to weep for today, God, as we imagine that you are also weeping, crying over unnecessary deaths, unthinking celebration, more people wounded, disheartened and with their hopes dashed again, battered people who are now mourning again. Forgive us, God, for our silence, our inattention, and our easy distractions, and for our hard hearts that… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Language Barriers (Acts 2:1-21)
Jerusalem, the setting for the Acts story, is also the site of the new United States embassy to Israel, which opened this week to much fanfare from some and much anguish from others. Unlike on the day of Pentecost, this week, no one was speaking the same language, or hearing news of grace in their own… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Breath of Life, Breath of Peace, Breath of all that is new, for the air that fills our lungs a million times a day, without ever thinking about it, we breathe in our deep gratitude to you. When our hearts race with worry, and breath grows short, may we return again to your peace. When… Read More
