Need ideas for the lectionary (RCL) text this week? Go to “Menu” and “Lectionary Sermons” for my weekly posting. It was a fiercely cold, December Sunday afternoon when my four-year-old granddaughter Rydia spent a few hours with me, stirring batter for Christmas bread, listening to the Advent IV Bible story, hunting for objects in an “I Spy” book, playing “you can’t catch me.” We … Continue reading She Knows
“Somebody ought to do something.” How many times have you said that to yourself as you marked yet one more piece of evidence that our society is floundering? I’m just as guilty as the next person of despairing over circumstances, then pushing my anxiety aside, filing it into an overstuffed file of “things I can’t do anything to change.” Except this time we’re not pushing … Continue reading Knock, Knock. Who’s There?
Need ideas for the lectionary text this week? Go to “Menu” and “Lectionary Sermons” for my weekly posting. In Jesus’ conception, there is one virgin being prepared. In a haunting parable (Matt 25.1-13) about the end times, there are ten virgins, five of whom are properly prepared. In the manner of armchair lectionary critics, I might have placed the parable in Advent. But there … Continue reading Advent Oil
It feels very arrogant of me to offer tips on talking with others who typically annoy or frustrate you. How do I know what it’s like to talk with your sister-in-law who treats you like the dirt on her shoe? I’ve never sat next to your father when he is pontificating, with food in his mouth no less. True. But I have picked up a … Continue reading How a Lab Coat Can Get You Through Thanksgiving, and Other Tips
This was originally written for the Spencer Daily Reporter in their Friday, November 25, 2016 edition. Are you a good listener? Think of a recent conversation that had some substance to it. Did you interrupt the other person? Were you preoccupied with waiting for them to finish so you could say what you wanted to say? Then you probably have some work to do on … Continue reading The Gift of Listening
This post was originally written for The Luke Society‘s blog, anticipating a global audience of their Christian ministry directors doing medicine among the poorest of the poor in their countries. We experienced something remarkable in the United States last week. There was deep disagreement about which of the candidates should be allowed to take the presidential helm for four years. Much anxiety led up … Continue reading What Flows Through
When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, [Jesus] said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” (Luke 21:5-6) “Isn’t it perfect? I wish it could always stay this way.” How many times have you felt that, … Continue reading Terror and Promise
It is more than being thankful as our mothers taught us. Henri Nouwen says it well: “Gratitude is not a simple emotion or an obvious attitude.” Read the entire quote on today’s Daily Dig from Plough Publishing: http://www.plough.com/en/subscriptions/daily-dig/even/october/daily-dig-for-october-29 I have only begun to appreciate the riches of maintaining a grateful stance. As Nouwen says, it is a difficult discipline, but it is one of the … Continue reading On Gratitude
If you love autumn and want to enjoy the loveliness of blazing colors, to settle into the coziness of coming in from the chill of the outdoors, feel content with life, then don’t open your Facebook account. If your feed is like mine, it is filled with some version of fear, despair, or anger. All three probably appear in the same post from one friend … Continue reading You and Francis Give Me Hope
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.” (2 Timothy 1:5) Her name was Cora. She was a Midwestern preacher’s wife in the early twentieth century. She raised five children with stern discipline and a strong faith. Yet she also performed her myriad household duties … Continue reading Just as Grandma Would Do
