For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In…
In case you haven’t noticed, I love words. I love reading them and writing them. I love speaking them and listening to them and praying with them. And words can be wonderful, soul-nurturing things. But my spiritual director recently pointed out that I also use words to distract myself. I use them to place myself…
I had a lot of fun trick-or-treating with Grace downtown on Halloween. We were harmless aliens. Nothing scary. But there were plenty of fierce werewolves and bloody vampires and creepy ghosts wandering around. Plenty of costumes to remind me that Halloween is not really about candy; it’s about death–it’s particularly about our fear of death.…
Yes, the three extra eyeballs are new, along with the antennae. But those are temporary. The cool Christian Century Blog badge to the right will be staying! I’m honored to be in the company of so many other thoughtful, faithful writers. Thanks to you all for reading!
This Sunday we are observing All Saints’ Day. This call to worship is inspired by the lectionary reading for the day from Isaiah 25:6-9. (Leader reads plain text, people read bold.) Hurricanes and floods and environmental havoc; drones and IEDs and handguns; cancer and heart disease and bodies shutting down; poverty and injustice and oppression.…
Our disciple for the week is Mary Magdalene! I’m not preaching, but I did write a call to worship, based on Hosea 11:3-4: Holy One, Teach us to walk on your path. Gather us in your arms. Heal our bodies and heal our spirits. Lead us with cords of kindness and encircle us with bands…
I spent some of my Sabbath time this weekend making cards. Not quick and simple cards–those are the ones I make out of necessity–when I need a card ASAP. These are Sabbath cards–made for people I love without regard for how long it takes to make each one. These luxurious expanses of creative time are…
One of the beautiful aspects of our congregation is that people besides me preach on a fairly regular basis. This coming Sunday the intelligent and thoughtful Joe Casad will continue our worship series on Jesus’ disciples by focusing on the crowd. Have you ever noticed how much “the crowd” shows up as a character in…
This week my had has been full of sinus drainage, leaving little room for deep, blog-worthy thoughts. Plus, during those precious moments I have been able to escape the demands of work and family . . . I have been sleeping instead of writing. But hey, there have been weeks–thankfully many of them–when I did…
This prayer of confession and assurance of pardon is adapted from the Message version of Ephesians 2:1-10. Holy God, there is always a temptation to be mired in that old stagnant life of sin. We let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell us how to live. We fill our lungs…
Spacious Faith 