I’ve been told to come to the Mennonite Church USA Future Church Summit with a smile, ready to make new friends. And I will. I basically smile all the time anyway;that’s just how my face looks. Honestly, I have to try hard to not smile at inappropriate times like funerals or public scoldings. Also, I…
Father’s Day is coming up, and I’ve been thinking about the particular person who is the father of my particular children. I realize that many of you are not married to people who are dads—some of you are single, some of you do not have children, some of you are married to other moms. Still,…
I am a total sucker for those articles people sometimes post on Facebook about Meyers-Briggs types—the personality test. You know, “Where you should live based on your Myers-Briggs type” or “What famous person shares your type?” This week, a friend posted “The definition of hell for different Myers-Briggs types.” My friend shared this post to…
This call to worship is based on Jeremiah 1:4-10, with a touch of Psalm 71 thrown in for good measure. The word of God comes to us: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” The word of God comes to us: “I appointed you to speak my word.” We may believe we…
This is the time of year that I have a mild longing for my alternative life as a college professor. “No matter how obnoxious a student was, I always knew that I only had to put up with them for one semester. The church, though, doesn’t seem to work that way. The same people tend…
O.K. folks. I finally got tired of changing all the pronouns as we went through our morning prayer service every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So I’m putting together new morning prayer liturgies. (Which may sound like a lot of work, but mostly I just plagiarize the Bible.) You can find the liturgies on my new…
If you have done any kind of work for justice in this world, you have likely heard something along these lines: “Why are you always so critical? Can’t you see the [insert people in appropriate power position] are trying? Why don’t you give credit where credit it due?” “Sure, he committed ‘non-consensual vaginal intercourse,’ but…
This post is excerpted from a sermon on Matthew 28:1-15, preached at Peace Mennonite Church on April 16, 2017. When we talk about witnesses to the resurrection, we almost always—and only—talk about the women. The faithful women were the ones who heard the angel message, saw the empty tomb, and went to tell people that…
Go over to Rev. Gal Blog Pals to see the rest of the tweets. For more meditative Holy Week reading, go to the blog index and scroll down to “Holy Week” and “Good Friday.” And a blessed Holy Week to you.
Holy One, Today, our hearts break for the people of Syria, and we fear for the state of our world. Assad tortures and kills his own people, desperately grasping at power with weapons, threats, force. Some Syrians join extremist groups, hoping guns and bombs will lead them to freedom and peace. Many Syrians flee. They…
Give thanks to the Lord, for God is good. God’s steadfast love endures forever. . . . Save us—Hosanna in Hebrew—Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. (Psalm 118) This is the hymn that…
This week I saw a vision of bones. Well, more of an image than a vision. One might call it a photograph. There was a long table with colorful cloths folded and placed along both sides. On each folded cloth was a human skull. These were skulls of Native Americans. Bones that had been collected…
