Narrative Lectionary: Rituals Then and Now (Luke 2: 21-38)

This week’s lectionary passage, saturated in ritual and tradition, invites us to consider the rituals of our own lives. Read More

Thursday Prayer: the blessings we wish for

Dear God Sometimes I wish you were in the business of giving the kind of blessings that would protect us from the vulnerability of being human. No more painful emotions, no more suffering, no more conflict, no more prejudice. I hear your promise of salvation, that there will be no more crying, no more death,… Read More

Narrative Lectionary: Days of Blessedness Have Begun

At the end of last week’s passage, the Narrative Lectionary takes us from Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness to the beginning of his ministry, saying “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near”. In this week’s passage, we start to get a sense of what the Kingdom of Heaven (or commonwealth of heaven, as… Read More

Thursday Prayer: a blessing for a clergywoman

May God bless you this day: May God’s presence undergird your days: sustaining you in hope, indwelling you in peace, encouraging you in faith. May you find freedom and room to breathe when the space seems narrow; may you find boldness and clarity when you are called to speak truth to power;  may you find… Read More

Saturday Prayer – Blessing

May you hear the Voice calling, “You are my beloved.” And if you cannot hear it just now May you hear our voices instead. “We will hear the Voice for you, beloved, until you can hear it for yourself.” Amen.     ____________________________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Garrison Brownell serves as pastor at First Congregational Church -UCC in… Read More

Thursday Prayer: A blessing for surgery

A prayer for one who is having surgery. Blessed be God, source of life and goodness, present with us now. Blessed be your body, receiving healing from the hands of the surgeons, in medicine swallowed, in the love of family and friends, in breathing and being. Blessed be your body, persevering in seeking truth, in… Read More

RevGalBookPals: Original Blessing

“The gospel is not a story of us being separated by sin from God. It’s the story of a God who is so faithfully for us and intent on being with us that God became human to help us embody the wholeness and fullness of life we’ve been made for. It’s not a story of… Read More