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Dancing with the Word

Dancing with the Word

a community of sorts where we can tell stories, make connections, and grow together
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The Beginning of the Birth Pangs

1 Comment
November 8, 2015

Mark 13:1-8 The world ended that day. With that phone call. That startling news.That deepening realization. The world ended that day. Or at least it ended as you had known it. I am so deeply aware of this right now for I am in the midst of a stretch of funerals. Some expected. Others not. …

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  • Mark
  • Mark 13:1-8
  • Pentecost 25B

Seeing the Widow

2 Comments
November 1, 2015

Mark 12:38-44 Truly, my whole life — including the years I have served as a pastor — I have heard the story of the widow in Mark’s Gospel as a story of sacrificial giving. It is a story about generosity. It is an image of one who gave all that she had. This drama and …

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  • Mark
  • Mark 12:38-44
  • Pentecost 24B

All Saints Day: Claiming the Easter Promise

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October 25, 2015

Isaiah 25:6-9John 11:32-44 For as long as I have been a pastor, I have loved All Saints Day. In some years, I have made the time to walk through a local cemetery — returning to those places I have frequented in the months past. Other years, time just gets away from me or the weather …

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  • All Saints Day B. John
  • Isaiah
  • Isaiah 25:6-9
  • John 11:32-44

Truth and Freedom

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October 18, 2015

John 8:31-36 And so what is this truth that makes us free? I was called upon to preach at our local Hospice Annual Memorial Service a few weeks ago. Those in attendance were primarily family members and friends of dear ones who had died in the past year. I knew their memories would be fresh …

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  • John
  • John 8:31-36
  • Reformation B

James, John, Jesus and my Great Aunt Esther

1 Comment
October 11, 2015

Mark 10:35-45 When I was a child, my imagination had painted a picture of heaven — one which may well have been informed by the interaction between James and John and Jesus shared today. Now it is so that before the age of eight, I had little reason to think much of heaven.  And then …

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  • Mark
  • Mark 10:35-45
  • Pentecost 21B

On Recovering Perfectionists and the Rich Man

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October 4, 2015

Mark 10:17-31 My 7th grade home economics teacher called me a perfectionist. I don’t remember the occasion for this critique — and believe me, it was precisely that, for there was no kindness in her tone. I do remember being surprised, for I wondered then what could possibly be wrong with striving for perfection. And …

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  • Mark
  • Mark 10:17-31
  • Pentecost 20B

On Bandaged Fingers and Broken Hearts: Jesus’ Words on Divorce

1 Comment
October 1, 2015

If you are a regular reader, you will know that I already posted some reflections on this Gospel reading. However, since I attempt to get something online in a timely way so as to be in conversation with other preachers, often my thoughts crystallize between then and when I actually preach on a particular text. …

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  • Mark
  • Mark 10:2-16
  • Pentecost 19B

On Divorce and and All of Us Little Children

2 Comments
September 27, 2015

Mark 10:2-16 When I was a young pastor this was a particularly challenging Gospel to preach. It still is, of course, but close to thirty years ago one was especially aware of the mere handful in our midst who had been divorced. Now, though, I am hard pressed to think of a family which in …

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  • Mark
  • Mark 10:2-16
  • Pentecost 19B

Meat (and Potatoes)

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September 20, 2015

Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 The story painted in Numbers this week is a vivid one. Indeed, it hits awfully close to home for anyone, anywhere who has ever tried to lead. I find myself especially struck today by Moses’ cry to God, for by now the burden of leadership has become profound — so heavy, …

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  • Numbers
  • Numbers 11:4-29
  • Pentecost 18B

“Whoever Wants to Be First…”

4 Comments
September 13, 2015

Mark 9:30-37 I offer my thoughts today in gentleness to colleagues who climb into the pulpit or rush to the hospital or who are struggling especially at this time of year to keep up with the demands of getting a new program year off the ground. I write this in gentleness and humility, knowing that …

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  • Mark
  • Mark 9:30-37
  • Pentecost 17B
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As a long-time preacher and teacher of the Word, I have found that the discipline of following the assigned texts through the church year has shaped my own faith profoundly. You will notice, therefore, that many of my postings on this site are lectionary-based.

It is my hope that all who drop in on this page will be blessed by the stories told and nudged by the questions shared.

If you are a preacher and teacher of the Word, feel free to use what you find here in whatever way you feel called. While these words are my gift to you in this dance we are called to together, I would appreciate your acknowledgment of DancingWithTheWord.com.

The Rev. Dr. Janet H. Hunt

Church InnovationsPr. Janet Hunt is a long-time partner and Associated Trainer for Church Innovations, a research and consulting non-profit institute that innovates capacities of churches to be renewed in God's mission. To see what's going on with Church Innovations, click here

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