After receiving the Ten Commandments, Moses says to the nation: “I set before you blessings and curses, Life and death. Now choose life, so that you and your descendants might live”. (Duet 30) Life emerges (as a blessing) when we as individuals and together in community adhere to the covenant. We do not enter the […]
Tag Archives: christianity
“A new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph.” Do you remember Joseph, the dreaming youngest child of Jacob and Rachel? Jacob lavished Joseph with fancy gifts like a multi colored dinner jacket. Every now and again Jacob sent Joseph to check on his older brothers as they camped out in the […]
I want to invite you to imagine that the Bible simply ended with Jesus’ Ascension. Jesus ascends and sits down in heaven. Imagine: that forty days after Easter, the disciples gather atop Matthew’s mountain. The Risen Christ speaks “peace be with you” and shows them the wounds in his hands and side. Jesus shares a […]
I loved church camp for memories like when we collected a bounty of unwanted cubed carrots and constructed a vegetable castle, catapulting it with field soggy peas. Or on Talent night, when a camp staffer did not spot our middle school sacracaism and implored the entire assembly to imitate my youth groups’ very enthusiastic applause. […]
”Why are you weeping?” is the question our Risen Lord asks Magdalene. (John 20). Dressed up in our fashionable Easter finery, it is easy to miss how Easter speaks to our grief. As we come to this unusual Easter, the Good News comes to us stripped down as it did to those earliest disciples […]
Luke 23:33-34 “When they arrived at the place called the Skull, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.’ They drew lots as a way of dividing up his clothing.” John 19:25-27 “Jesus’ […]
On Wednesday, Amy Cooper and Christy Perky led the choristers in a Zoom call choir practice. These elementary schoolers were planning to debut a new musical The Truth About Ruth, for the Sunday after Easter. This musical by our own Christy and Amy will be great when we can once again sing together. Amy told […]
A few weeks ago, I saw a sincere portrait of Jesus in a church classroom. An enormous buff Jesus stood atop the entire earth. One massive foot touched down on the North Pole and descended over Canada. Was it Easter or maybe the Second Coming? This curly headed brunette Jesus wore a dazzling white robe […]
Twenty years ago I ran my first and only marathon. I have managed to mention it about 10,000 times. In order to run all 26 miles you have to stay hydrated. Even elite runners break their stride enough to slurp down a gel pack and pick up a sports drink. Around mile 14, I started […]
In 1997, on a clear cloudless night not long after Lewis was born, I felt a pull to carry Lewis outside. Maybe I felt a bond so rich that being surrounded by walls and held in by a ceiling seemed wrong. I looked up at the starry sky. That same sky called out to Abraham […]
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