God of new life, God of life made new, I begin this new year as I ended the last– embraced by your spirit of love your presence of peace your gentle power. I leave behind the old year in the knowledge that Whatever I have done in the service of selfish desire; Whenever I have…
God of new life, God of life made new, We begin this new year as we ended the last– embraced by your spirit of love your presence of peace your gentle power. We leave behind the old year with prayers of gratitude for the love we have known, with prayers for mercy in the pain…
I could list for you all of the wonderful things I want to accomplish this year, but let’s face it, I’d just be setting us all up for disappointment. So instead, I offer a list of all of the ways I plan to fail in the coming twelve months:
Breathe. Just breathe in the sharp ice air that stings the hollows of my nose and mingles with the blood that flows to each hair follicle, through each artery, each vein, fueling my stops and starts toward home, warming my wind-whipped skin, sinking deep into the marrow of each bone. Breathe. Just breathe out the…
I’ve been enjoying some end-of-the-year posts from other bloggers and thought I would do one of my own. So here are a few highlights from Spacious Faith’s second full year! I’ve become a contributor to a few great web sites: Mennonite Weekly Review Huffington Post Christian Century TextWeek Liturgy Link I’ve developed creative worship, retreat,…
(Here is the reflection I shared during worship on New Year’s Day, 2012 ) Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11-14a It’s probably not surprising that I’ve been thinking about gifts this holiday season. Of course, I’ve been considering what gifts to give others and I’ve been enjoying the gifts others have given me. And as one year ends…
It’s been awhile since I participated in this wonderful exercise. Thanks to Sally for posting this one. Blessings from 2011 (Yes, I know I have six for the Friday 5–that’s just the kind of rebel I am) A diagnosis—After years of struggles and frustrations, our 14-year-old son was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. The diagnosis does…
As we prepare to celebrate New Year’s Day this coming Sunday, I am re-posting a New Year’s prayer that I wrote last year. I have formatted the prayer to be read responsively-leader speaks the plain text, congregation the bold, and everyone speaks the bold italics. As always, you are welcome to use this prayer in…
I’m hoping to take the week off between Christmas and New Year’s day, which means I’m doing a lot of worship planning this week. Our opening scripture for New Year’s day will be Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 11-14a. And here is the call to worship: Praise be to God, Creator of time and space! Who has…
