Growing up, I think we had semi-gloss ceilings. I loved to lay on the living room floor watching the christmas tree lights flicker across it’s shiny glaze. Those tree lights came with sturdy bases that held giant screw in bulbs. Whenever a solid red, blue, orange, or green light went out, I replaced it with […]
Author Archives: paulrpurdue
After my niece and nephew moved out, my youngest son spent the summer in my childhood home. A few days after Caleb moved back into the dorm, Connie drove to Lexington to see him. In Nashville, asleep on our couch, the phone woke me at 11pm. Connie blurted out, “It is raining in the house! […]
“Are you the Expected One, or should we look for another?” John the Baptist’s disciples came wondering if Jesus might bring a deeper rest, or if they should take their expectations elsewhere? The Christmas shopping season is filled with expectations and longings for connection, contentment and joy. We hope Santa leaves us a Lexus with […]
“The lands in longing call out your name; the tongues are diff’rent, the prayer the same. With humble spirits can we believe that God is bigger than we conceive? The will of heaven on this earth be done; the day is coming, oh, let it come. With willing spirits, Lord, let us dare to kneel […]
Three summers ago, we woke at 3:30am, packed up our camping gear and hiked out of the Grand Canyon. Following the park ranger’s advice, we left Phantom Ranch by 4am. in order to beat the projected 120 degree temperature. Down in a 7,000 foot canyon it is dark at 4am. Being able to see the […]
God’s calling of Moses is shaped by forces that fit our moment: me too, immigration, and racial tension. Do you recall Moses’ story? Remember how Moses’ ingenious mother defied Pharaoh’s genocide by weaving a little ark? Or how an Egyptian princess drew the beautiful child’s basket out of the Nile River? And how Miriam, hiding […]
13 rusted specialty drill bits (masonry) 7 water stained photos in antique frames 2 hundred year old wooden trunks, which now look like they washed ashore Not even one room’s hardwood floors survived the ruptured water line’s flood… Soaked, buckled, removed and tossed into a big blue driveway dumpster. Last week, Connie and I […]
Looking for God, Neighbors, and Ourselves Psalm 8, Luke 19:1-6, 21:1-2 I want to begin today by playing a little game. I’m going to read some quotes and I want to see if you can guess what they are about. A very well respected philosopher claimed this will surely “create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, […]
Do you ever feel a chirp of incompleteness, that nagging tug of the next thing, not enough time, the need to measure up, add another, get that, achieve like…, or not miss out? Our media saturated marketed driven world plays up incompleteness to buy our attention and sell us stuff. They amplify our perceived need […]
In May of 2020, the United Methodist Church General Conference will bring together delegates representing the 136 countries that are a part of our worldwide denominational communion. Our own, Rev. Marie King is one of those delegates. Jacob Vaughan, Jefferson Furtado, Linda Furtado and I will be alternates there as well. The gathering will consider […]
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