Tonight, we begin our Lenten journey tonight with a sign of the cross smudged across our foreheads. The ashen smudge is a sign of our identification with Jesus- it reminds us of our baptismal promises to follow Jesus’ along Christ’s alternative kin-dom route. I do not see where Jesus asked us to put on sackcloth […]
Tag Archives: lent
Last Wednesday, Hunter, Sol, Mercede and I worked on building an irrigation path to divert groundwater away from a home and towards a catch basin. There was not a nice stack of matching concrete pavers from Home Depot but instead a pile of preindustrial stones collected from nearby fields. Each rock had its own size, […]
Mark tells no back stories: no theological images like John, no genealogy like Matthew, and no birth narrative like Luke. Mark begins with John the Baptist. Jesus was about 30 years old, the age when many men got married, when he decided to travel to the Judean wilderness to hear John the Baptist preach. John […]
One Saturday morning, 21 years ago, maybe in March, I was walking through the woods with my cousin, when Tom said, “I’m going to run a marathon for Nathan next January.” He waited and added “Disney is the flattest marathon in the country”. He did not ask, but I felt his invitation. When I said […]
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 […]
Lent begins with Jesus alone in the wilderness being tested by the Tempter. Temptations rarely beckon us to do something vile, terrible or evil. It’s unlikely any of you woke up laying plans to commit adultery, desecrate the sanctuary, or become consumed by anger. Temptations usually just pull us a little off track. I read […]
What will you give up for lent? Will you take up a spiritual practice to grow closer to Jesus? How will you sacrifice so as to draw nearer to the cross? Twenty five years ago, Connie taught an aerobics class at our church. I kidded with her about her dance class, assured with my daily 6 […]
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