If you’ve been following along with the lectionary, you might be aware that a major theme of our recent gospel lessons has been prayer. It’s been a great opportunity to talk with our kids in the children’s message about the ways we pray and what happens when we pray. Far too often, we think of prayer as what we say to God. Far too often, prayer is described or used as a kind of wish list where we name all the ways we…
We are currently in the midst of the winter season. Earth itself gives us an opportunity to experience and learn from her wisdom. In this season, life itself slows down. The animals react by conserving their energy and some even hibernate through this cold and desolate time of year. It was snowing so hard that I couldn’t see much farther than half a block down the street. It was a “white out.” The trees have lost their foliage and lie dormant waiting, in…
Last summer I spent a month with the Benedictine Sisters of St. Gertrude's Monastery in Cottonwood, Idaho. The nuns had granted me an artist residency: a whole month to work on a manuscript I was writing and read and engage in what they called "holy leisure." It was one of the greatest blessings I've ever had to live with these faithful women. I joined them twice each day for morning and evening prayer, during which the nuns sang the psalms. They would sing…
My niece recently shared this picture of her husband looking at their newborn baby. I was so taken by his loving gaze, and how he seemed at once mesmerized and delighted by this amazing gift of life they had just welcomed into their family. I remember looking at my own sons in the same way after they were born, especially when I held them in my arms while nursing them. I would just stare at their tiny faces and hands with deep love,…
As we live into each day, and more news stories arise around the COVID pandemic and the social unrest across our nation and the world, I find myself lost in the constant stream of information and struggle, searching for hope, searching for God in the chaos. A loving God to help me take a deep breath, connect to the Spirit and lovingly be a light in our world. I long for community gatherings and people to walk this journey with me and I…
Copyright 2020 – All rights reserved
Design – Carlson-Creative.com
