I’m having some difficulties with these texts this week. It’s the third anniversary of my mother’s death and my grief is complicated. And the things happening in the world that displace such callous indifference to human lives brings the angry cynic out in me. I’m working to contain these feelings as I read these texts… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Unknown God (Acts 17:16-31
I remember asking about all those people who didn’t know about God as a precocious Pastor’s Kid back in the day. I must have been at least 6, maybe older. My parents, obliquely, referred to Acts 17, letting me know that people have ways to know God even if they don’t have the same information… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Spring Prayer
So God, Where I am now they call this springtime. I want sunshine, flowers, robin’s eggs, and even muddy boots shed on the stoop on the way inside for a cup of tea, served with a big spoonful of honey. Spring’s sweetness is what I want. I do not want the bitter blast of cold… Read More
Friday Festival: Revealing the Hidden
Our bloggers are writing about things unseen this week. They explore the hidden nature of other people, themselves and their lives. Also, the thinly veiled beauty of chocolate chip pie. Unconscious contracts are on Mags Blackie’s mind, as she ponders the things she does without thinking deeply about them. They include “The knee jerk response… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Ah, Holy One who is Many, I pray today for… Gosh, I don’t know and I do. It’s a beautiful cool and sunny day, and the forsythia is blooming here, and it feels like a respite. So, I am grateful. I pray my gratefulness today. There is much sorrow and deep pain and anguish in… Read More
Revised Common Lectionary: Good Shepherd Edition
My home congregation is Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. For as long as I can remember, their logo has included a silhouette of Jesus as shepherd, holding a long staff. They have a beautiful metal (iron?) sculpture of a shepherd carrying a sheep. Their columbarium, which I have yet to see in person,… Read More
Monday Prayer
“April is the cruelest month,” the poet T. S. Eliot writes, and we are living that reality in a world caught between the tensions and apparent contradictions that comprise this life. The shifting sands of need among the beloved of God require nimble feet for those who seek and serve. Balance, you say? We do… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Peacemakers
Brother Jesus, Across the wide plain you cry blessed are the peacemakers. Sometimes we hear destroy the weapons of war with weapons of our own. Let us hear there can be no peace without justice. Let us hear embrace the stranger feed the hungry shelter the refugee heal the broken and broken-hearted. Let us hear… Read More
Friday Festival Miscellany
I’ve been away! Where it was sunny and warm. And I have returned with the exact same remains of the flu with which I departed. Returned to a Friday funeral for a beloved matriarch and to two critical meetings, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. So, please accept these readings as an example of… Read More
Ask the Matriarch: Toward More Robust Congregational Singing
This week’s question comes from a small church pastor. Can those of us who have enjoyed serving small congregations relate to this challenge? Dear Matriarchs, I am a few months into a new call to another small congregation. They are delightful and I am happy to say that we are getting off to a great… Read More
