Isaiah 40:21-31 Perhaps it is coincidence, although I expect not. It never really is. For it is so that in these past days I have twice found myself attempting to bring the story and the experience of the Biblical Exile alive. First with our confirmation team to a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. …
Be Silent! … And Even the Unclean Spirits Were…
Mark 1:21-28 I am trying to imagine the scene before us now with Jesus fresh off his wilderness experience, still newly baptized by John, accompanied by a handful of his disciples, walking together into the synagogue in Capernaum today. Of course we do not hear the content of Jesus’ teaching in Mark’s telling of the …
For the Present Form of this World is Passing Away…
1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Seldom have I ever been drawn to seriously and/or deeply consider Paul’s words as they come to us here in his first letter to the church at Corinth. For it appears, doesn’t it, that what he offers in these verses is not particularly helpful. Clearly, he expected that Jesus would return in …
Called by Name For This Time…
I Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) John 1: 43-51 I was driving home from some time away this week-end. If you have ever headed north on Highway 65 through Alabama, perhaps you have seen it, too. It’s a billboard shouting the threat: “Go to church or the devil will get you!” The words are in bold black …
The Father’s Voice
Since I am still on vacation, I offer this old reflection now. What was eighteen years in the past is now almost twenty four. Perhaps it is mere coincidence that my sister unearthed an old video cartridge a few days back and after digitizing it so we could view it, discovered our dad’s voice, narrating …
No Plastic Jesus Here: The Word Became Flesh
I am taking an overdue break after a most unusual year in ministry and so I offer these thoughts on ‘the Word become flesh’ from several years ago. I have to say, I got a little misty remembering our traditional gatherings in the barn on Christmas Eve for this year the pandemic kept us from …
Just Another Day… Christmas This Year
Luke 2:1-20 I have shared this story of this particular Christmas Eve before in many times and places. For some reason, though, I am carrying it especially close this time around. Indeed, I have held this memory for so many seasons now that the edges of it are becoming blurry. Even so, there are pieces …
Here Am I
Luke 1:26-38 I am struck by this today — by the number of times we hear of God calling people to extraordinary things and of how many of them answer with the simplicity of Mary saying “Here am I” or “Here I am.” And I find myself wondering at how their stories paralleled hers and …
Binding Up the Broken Hearted: Just Keep Breathing
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 I spoke with her a few days back. She gave me permission to share our conversation with all of you. She had texted me, you see, including a photograph of her exhausted face. She asked then simply for prayers. And so I asked if she had a minute to talk. She said …
Turning Around…
Mark 1:1-8 It is a risky thing, and limiting, I know, to look for parallels between us and the natural world, for I expect the human mind and heart and soul tend to be a whole lot more complex than what can be observed outside my kitchen window. And yet, every time this happens, it …