I had a really great Easter this year. The weather for the sunrise service was spectacular, as was the food at our Easter breakfast. We had a full house for worship and sang one Hallelujah after another. I ate lunch (that I didn’t have to cook) with family and delighted in watching my nephews and…
These are some reflections on John 20: 24-29. They are excerpted from a longer sermon I preached several years ago. Believing is at the heart of John’s Gospel. It’s why the Gospel was written. It’s why God sent Jesus to us: “that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” And in…
Almighty, suffering God,whose love for us extends from the heights of heavento the depths of Mary’s womband even into the darkness of the grave,Receive now these prayers we offer at the foot of your cross:For those, like Jesus, who must flee their homelands for fear of violence.For those, like Jesus, with no place to lay…
Hello, friends. Our prayer practice for Holy Week is a cross collage meditation. We consider the ways that violent systems continue to cause suffering in our world today, just as they did in Jesus’ day. I appreciate those who have joined in this Lenten journey. I will post one more prayer practice next week. After…
Here is a call to worship for Good Friday that I adapted from a piece I wrote several years ago: In this holy week, on this holy night,We come to be present with Jesus in his suffering.With the glory of Palm Sunday behind us and the victory of Easter not yet come,We gather with our…
Have you ever noticed how often Jesus is misunderstood? The religious leaders don’t understand him—they accuse him of false teachings and try to trap him into saying things he doesn’t mean so they can turn the people against him. The people don’t really understand him. Remember when Jesus asks his disciples: Who do people say…
This week’s prayer practice is a prayer doodle. For some reason the “embed” feature isn’t working on WordPress today, so here’s an old-fashioned link to the video. I recently sent out the monthly journal pages and resource links to my Patreon subscribers. You can be one of those subscribers by signing up on my Patreon…
Here is a “stations of Holy Week” service we did several years ago at Peace Mennonite. It takes people through the story of Holy Week through Jesus’ burial. It will need to be adapted for different theological and logistical contexts, but I hope you find the overall structure and simplified readings helpful if you hope…
Seek the Holy One, who may be found;Call upon God, who is near. Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts,Nor are God’s ways our ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than our ways and God’s thoughts than our thoughts. The holy word that goes out shall not return empty,but it shall…
I love walking labyrinths and am fortunate to have one to walk in our worship space at Peace Mennonite Church. (For those in the Lawrence, KS, area, we have it open on the first Friday of each month from 9-Noon.) Sometimes, though, you do not have a labyrinth available to walk, and I find a…
This week’s creative prayer practice is based on Exodus 17:1-7, the story of God providing water from a rock. This practice is an opportunity to consider the challenges and blessings in your life and offer it all to God. I do hope you are enjoying these creative prayer practices–and/or finding other practices that are nurturing…
The Spacious Lent creative prayer practice for this second week of Lent is one of my favorite practices: a traced hand prayer. I encourage you to make some space in your week for connecting with God–whether through this practice or another. If you are looking for worship resources for the season, you can find my…
(Second Sunday of Lent, 2023) During Lent, we often talk about the wilderness as a negative place—a place of deprivation, temptation, and wandering. But in this week’s reading from Genesis, God calls Abram into the wilderness: “Go from your country . . . to the land I will show you.” I imagine Abram was terrified—not to…
Our creative arts prayer practice for the first week of Lent is a wilderness dot meditation. When Jesus is tempted, he is in a sacred space–the space where the Spirit has brought him. But it is not only the physical space that is sacred. I believe that times of decision and discernment are sacred spaces…
The first Spacious Lent creative arts prayer practice is now available! For Ash Wednesday, you are invited to create a heart offering–to bring all of yourself to God as we begin this holy season. For this practice, I give a couple of options, the simplest of which requires only pen and paper, with optional colored…
Spacious Faith 