Last night, as I was driving home after a church council meeting, the threatening-looking clouds finally opened up. I spent the last few miles of my drive in heavy rains with thunder and lightning. I wasn’t afraid of perishing, as the disciples in the Gospel for Sunday, but I certainly had renewed appreciation for the… Read More
Tuesday Prayer
Image by Sigurd Decroos via rgbstock.com Broken-hearted Friend, The voices of the persecuted children ring in our ears and we cannot stop them (we must not!) And we know these are only echoes of the myriad voices we have not heard over the years Refused to hear Excused ourselves from knowing about “That was then”… Read More
Saturday Prayer – Prayer for Pride
Holy One, Today I was reminded again what I keep forgetting. That this kind of Pride, the Pride for which we march, the Pride we celebrate, has an opposite, too. This Pride’s opposite is not humility, it is shame. So we gather and we march and we revel not because we lack humility. But because we stand… 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
Friday Prayer: Persist
Oh Holy One, As we persist we find the strength to grow despite the pain despite the worry and as one day rolls into the next, we can look back and see your faithfulness, your strength in our weakness, your love in the hardest places, and your promises new every morning. Surprise us again with… Read More
Thursday Prayer: Being present
As the day begins with all that lies ahead of me you, O God, are present. Help me also to be present. In morning routines, or morning chaos, you, O God, are present. Help me also to be present. In difficult conversations, in comforting words, you, O God, are present. Help me also to be… Read More
The Pastoral Is Political: The Politics of “Just”
I have served almost exclusively in small-town and rural congregations in the Upper Midwest. Each of those congregations has a quilting group that makes dozens, sometimes hundreds, of quilts each year. Today I’m thinking about two of those groups. In one group, one of the members made it her special ministry to cut up the… Read More
Monday Prayer: Into
Into your hands I commit today’s concerns, Into my hands you place strength and forbearance. Into your heart I dive for comfort and compassion, Into my heart you place peace and mercy. Into your song I yield to the melody, Into my song you weave harmony and lilt. Into your light I reach for renewal,… 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
11th Hour Preacher Party . . . Graduation Edition!
I don’t know about you all, but we are celebrating high school and college graduations on Sunday ~ which will shorten the sermon somewhat. And guess what I’ve purchased for our graduates? Copies of MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s God, Improv, and the Art of Living! Deciding to give a RevGals book was easy ~ which one… Read More
