When my husband and I were first married (and were very young adults), he woke me up on the Sunday after our three-day honeymoon, saying “Get up. It’s time to get ready for Sunday School.” There he stood in suit and tie. As I…
Our church congregation was invited to read the Bible through this year, and we are using a resource entitled “Daily Scripture Guidebook” by Tim Wildsmith. We are now reading through the book of Exodus and this seems to be material ripe for “picking” for…
To pray for Israel and the Middle East is to step into a messy field of hostility going back eons—not just to the formation of the Jewish state in 1948 following the Holocaust. No, that was not the beginning. We have to go all…
Jesus encouraged his followers to “have ears that hear.” Though he wasn’t speaking about physical hearing with our ears, hearing is a precious gift and sometimes needs to be augmented with hearing aids. There is research documentation that loss of hearing can have diminishing…
Perhaps you have read the classic book by J.B. Phillips entitled Your God Is Too Small. I was reminded of this beloved book recently in our pastor’s sermon and immediately thought that the problem I encounter with people of faith is also that their…
Walking and praying, or praying as we walk, is probably fairly common. Some churches organize walking prayer tours of their communities. I expect most people of faith pray as they walk, at least some of the time. If we are concerned about a matter,…
When I am at the beach, I like to think of being on “turtle time.” I love the rhythm I get into with the sound of the waves and the breeze, the sunshine kissing my skin and water lapping at my toes as I…
Let me invite you to slowly read the story of the walk to Emmaus several times as you sit with this classic painting of Jesus walking with the two disciples along the path. Let your imagination take you into the story. Be there. Luke…
The coronavirus has our senses on high alert. The news reports are delivered with great urgency in voice and facial expression. The internet is abuzz with fearful apocalyptic predictions. For the first time in my lifetime, there is a global sense of fear that…
Lessons from the Prodigal Son I was once in a study course on forgiveness as a part of the Spiritual Formation Certification program at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. We were blessed and enriched spiritually to have Marjorie Thompson as the facilitator. In…
