Much has been written this week in response to the violence in Charlottesville, VA in the U.S., commenting on the events of last weekend, and reflecting on it as a moral mirror for us all. Wise bloggers have written about learning from our racist history, the racism in our own families, and the kind of… Read More
Our Spiritual Disciplines: Routines of the House
Growing up, my mom and dad always insisted on Saturday morning that my sister and I would help them clean the house before we got to do anything we called fun. Though it wasn’t meant to be punishment, it sure felt like it. I would regularly complain: “Why can’t I watch cartoons like my other… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Holy, You love me. Help me absorb that love deep into my skin, let it flow through my veins, circle through my heart, pump it like life into your world. I confess, in my skeptic way, When I see a message, “GDLVSU” on the back of a car, I wonder about the person driving it,… Read More
Revised Common Lectionary: Foreigners and Refugees
Dear preachers, if you have the option in your setting, I highly recommend adding in the optional verses to the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel this Sunday. In a week when hate speech and crimes are making international headlines, this is a poignant time to hear Jesus’ words: It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a… Read More
The Pastoral Is Political: On Overload
Are you on overload? I’m on overload. Just in the past week alone, listening to two men threaten one another with nuclear weapons and watching the white nationalist/supremacist/Nazi rallies in Charlottesville has given us more than our souls have bargained for. There’s too much hate happening in our world, and we see it firsthand in… Read More
Saturday Prayer: Lord, have mercy.
Kyrie eleison Christe eleison Kyrie eleison We watch in horror, eyes burning with tears, hearts screaming in pain, minds refusing to comprehend, can such evil be real? Lord Jesus, come quickly. Barbara Bruneau is a recently retired Lutheran pastor living in southeastern Minnesota. She is a knitter, a weaver, and a very occasional blogger at An… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party
How are you all doing? I am currently at the point where I squeaked the bulletin out Friday (this) morning and am just now doing the work of looking at the RCL for my sermon. Its been a busy week, well more like a regularly busy week after a a super busy month, so I… Read More
Ask the Matriarch: What’s Your Spiritual Practice?
Wouldn’t you know that this week’s post is coming to you a day late, on the week when the question is about how we are spiritually disciplined? Ahem. Moving on . . . Let’s consider the subject of spiritual disciplines and welcome potential for growth: Dear Matriarchs, I have enjoyed the recent RevGalBlogPals feature sharing… Read More
Friday Festival: August Potpourri
Well, it’s August, and the eclipse is coming, along with the end of summer rush to get away and to prepare for fall beginnings. August always feels like such a random month to me and so . . . a random potpourri of posts: Knowing that “good people can be clueless,” Jan in achurchforstarvingartists writes… Read More
Wits-Ends-Day: A Pastor’s Dream Come True
I started volunteering at our local humane society this week. Not because I’m a good person. Because my twelve-year-old daughter wants to volunteer and she’s too young to do it without parental supervision. After the required orientation, we wore our long pants, closed-toed shoes, and volunteer T-shirts, and showed up for our first shift. The… Read More
