Throughout Lent, we have been praying like Jesus. We have used methods of coloring and praying the news, we have prayed for our children and in the closet, we have prayed with others and in our questions, we have prayed without words and using scripture. And throughout our prayers, we have almost held our breath,…
From the Syrian town of Khan Shekihoun last week came the story of a woman who gave her name as Om Ahmed. In her deepest sorrow she said, “If the world wanted to stop this, they would have done so by now. One more chemical attack in a town the world hasn’t heard of won’t…
Jesus gathered his disciples and friends for the Passover. Each year, people of faith reenact and remember the Passover with the Seder both years ago and today. Questions and answers form the home-based liturgy to tell the story of liberation, of God’s great miracles for the Jewish people. Jesus longed to celebrate this tender ritual…
Piggyback ride! I hear a couple of times a day. Piggy-back ride. Peter will say to Alisabeth and to Felicity, and to me. He enjoys being carried. Many children like being carried. I imagine many adults as well! It got me thinking about how often children are carried. We carry them for fun with piggyback…
Parades require coordination. There are no impromptu parades. I was in the Boscov’s Thanksgiving day parade my senior year of high school. We were one of hundreds of floats that morning. Each of which spent hours before choreographing and rehearsing exactly what they would do. Each of which received details instructions from the organizers as…
Every so often, I find myself on a Monday morning wandering through the sanctuary, looking for papers I left on the pulpit, and as I walk through the sanctuary, almost without fail, bulletins on chairs caught my eye. Thinking I am straightening up, I go pick up the bulletin and find it has notes, doodles,…
Praying with Scripture After a comfortable season, Lent can feel abrupt and like we are driven to sacrifice. After feeling like spiritually, we knew what to expect and how to navigate the world around us, Lent can feel like an imposition. We begin this Lenten journey as Jesus did. Being called from affirmation and accolades…
Pray in the Closet The road to hell is marked with good intention…. (Saint Bernard of Clarivaux said this back in the 11th century) I think about this every time Lent comes around. Lots of good intentions to read your Bible, pray for others, serve the community, fast, give generously to those in need, teach…
I wonder if you have ever had this experience: You greet someone by asking how they are. They respond with these words: “I am blessed.” I am not sure how you have recovered from that response, but for me, I get lost in my own mind, rabbit hole maze that it is, wondering about what…
When I was in junior high, I can remember making and receiving mix tapes. Musical gifts of time. They took hours! In fact, so many hours, that I cannot get rid of them! We have at least a box-full in the basement. You would listen to the radio on an oversized boom box for songs that you thought should be a part…