Treasure Valley Prays

Reimagining Church Together
SHARING STORIES AND EXPLORING SPIRITUAL CONNECTION

We are ELCA leaders and pastors from the Treasure Valley
and Northwest Intermountain Synod.

Devotions – Monday and Friday

Topical Reflection – Wednesday

Grateful for Labor Movement

Penelope Smith September 6, 2021 1 Comment

“Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” (James 5:4) I recently watched the 2004 BBC mini-series “North & South”. This was set in a mill town in the north

You Can Go Home Again

Diane McGeoch September 3, 2021 No Comments

I lift my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1) I recently had the chance to visit my hometown – Duluth, Minnesota. I only lived in Duluth until I was four, when we moved to Omaha, Nebraska. After Omaha,

Reflection or Echo Chamber?

Casey Cross September 1, 2021 1 Comment

When I was around 13 years old, I remember a friend from church saying something like, “You might be the only bible someone ever reads.” We were talking about how we live out our faith and how we reflect our beliefs in the world through the way we live. It stayed with me. It didn’t

Change in Weekly Format

tvprays August 31, 2021 No Comments

Beginning Tomorrow, September 1 TVPrays.org will continue the 3-day a week schedule we have been following since the beginning of summer—with postings coming Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Monday and Friday will continue the Devotions as we have been creating them since the pandemic began in March 2020. Wednesday will be another kind of written and/or

Seeing All There Is to See

Keith Hammer August 30, 2021 1 Comment

But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children— how you once stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, …

Love God. Love others.

Mary Riedl August 27, 2021 1 Comment

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This

Give Yourself Away

Heidi Gainan August 25, 2021 2 Comments

“When you take something you possess—your bread and power, your abilities and identities, your comfort and control, your treasured structures and even life itself—and release your attachment to it and make it useful to God’s movement, you are practicing kenosis.” Stephanie Spellers (as quoted in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, August 12, 2021) I had just

Swimming Lessons

Kent Schaufelberger August 23, 2021 1 Comment

Come gather’ round wherever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown, accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone. And if your breath to you is worth saving then you better start swimming, or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times, they are a changin’. Bob Dylan In

Giving With Both Hands

Bob Parrish August 20, 2021 No Comments

The texts assigned for this coming Sunday, Mark 7: 1-13 and Ephesians 5: 22-33, can be subject matter for any number of discussions individually. I would like to take a look at how they might be related in a common theme and run with that. Often these texts are hard to see how they might

All the Days of My Life

Casey Cross August 18, 2021 4 Comments

I’m struggling to find words to encapsulate all the thoughts and feelings I’ve had this week in a way that makes sense for a devotion. The world is overwhelming. There is so much outside of me that leaves me bewildered and exhausted. On top of that, there is just as much going on inside of

Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University

In Thy Light We See Light

Kat Tigerman August 16, 2021 3 Comments

For with you is the fountain of life;in your light we see light.(Psalm 36:9) The Psalm for today from the Revised Common Lectionary is Psalm 36. The second half of verse 9, “in thy light we see light” is the motto of my alma matter, Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. This phrase is prominent throughout

Scorching Heat

Linda Worden August 13, 2021 1 Comment

On one of the hot days we’ve endured this summer, I suddenly pictured Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness, unprotected from the scorching heat. Ishmael was Abraham’s (then Abram) first son. When Sarah (then Sarai) despaired of bearing a child, she gave Hagar, her Egyptian slave, to Abram, hoping that Hagar would be able to

Becoming Truth-Tellers

Mia Crosthwaite August 11, 2021 2 Comments

“What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.” Ephesians 4:25 Taking in the extravagant love of Christ changes us. God loves every

Seek Silence

Penelope Smith August 9, 2021 1 Comment

In his book Money Enough, author Douglas Hicks references 1 Kings 19, the familiar story of the prophet Elijah, harassed by Queen Jezebel and her thugs, who flees to the wilderness wanting to give up and die. While there he is visited by an angel who gives him food and water. The angel sends him

How Can I Help?

Keith Hammer August 6, 2021 1 Comment

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking