While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying,…
Psalm 27, Triumphant Song of Confidence of David The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh— my adversaries and foes—they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I asked of the Lord; to live in the…
"What are humans that you are mindful of them,mortals that you care for them?Yet you have made them a little lower than Godand crowned them with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:4-5).Can we talk about . . . body image? One of my goals this year was to become more accepting of people who are different from me, including people who identify as LGBTQIA2S+, which stands for "people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or gender expansive, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual, and two-spirit."…
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…
“… (Jesus) passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” Luke 4:30 In recent months I’ve had the occasion to interact with persons in our health care system—from the persons who greet me when I check in for an appointment to the those who care for me in the hospital and examination rooms. I’ve been struck numerous times with this thought: “This terrible pandemic has actually made these persons better people!” They interact with me in caring, committed, professional, and…
I am mourning the loss of two family members in recent weeks. My mother Mary died following a stroke in Tucson, Arizona on May 29th. My brother-in-law Geoffrey died following a massive heart attack in Meridian, Idaho on June 3rd. My husband Glenn and I have been through every emotion since these events and there have been and will continue to be difficult days. There have been moments of pure love and grace during this time. I’ve been trying to identify what practices…
CO 200 1-6,K1 P1 around 7 – *K1, YO, K3, Sl1 K2, PSSO, K3, YO; rep from * to BOR 8 and all even– K around 9 – K2, *YO, K2, Sl1 K2, PSSO, K2, YO, K3; rep from * to BOR This looks like another language at first. It’s confusing, and frustrating. I want to give up, but I’m determined to figure this out. In the beginning, the stitches go onto the needle so tightly that I can barely pass the other…
It’s summer again, the time of family gatherings. This is the time of year we put extensions in the table and dig folding chairs out of their dark corners so that there can be room enough for everyone at the table. Our table never quite meets the Norman Rockwell dream. There is always a bit of chaos when you bring so many people together. There’s the negotiation of who sits next to you and how to get more elbow room. Still, whatever the…
“Witness” can be a scary word to some church people. Even apart from church contexts, it can be scary to be a witness. Your name is now associated with a case, situation, or incident. If a new development or question might happen later down the road, you will likely be called. Whether you desire to get the facts straight or find yourself in a tricky situation because of being in a certain place at a certain time, being a witness can be stressful.Beginning…
I have a confession to make: I am a sucker for Dungeons and Dragons. I have all the dice, a few handbooks, my first character from college (which survived ALL FOUR YEARS!), and miniatures just ready to be placed on my tabletop for an adventure. I had a consistent group in college, and played a few times in seminary and had a lot of fun along the way.I heard stories in my early years of preparing to be a pastor that Dungeons and…
I have a friend who recently discovered that her identity had been stolen. As she was sharing with me the process for reporting the fraud and protecting her identity, it surprised me just how exhaustive the process was. There are so many entities that rely on our personal information and “identities.”This gave me pause to wonder: what is an identity?According to the government, an identity is our name, address, birthdate, and social security number. Perhaps according to our own selves it is the…
I tend to laugh when someone says the word ‘balance.’ “How do you balance work and personal obligations?” seems like a common question, like there is some secret we’re all searching for. One day we’ll discover in some dusty booby-trapped cave the answer to managing working out in the morning, getting the kids to school, walking the dog, checking off all the to-do lists at work, eating a healthy lunch, remembering all your appointments, prepping a delicious dinner, and taking some self-care in…
A dear friend of mine will be consecrated as a Lutheran deaconess this weekend. She has had to wait several months for her service to be rescheduled and it will look very different from her original plans. But we know God is faithful and that God continues to call us regardless of what is going on in the world around us and no matter how long it takes us to make things “official.”One of her texts for the service is the Parable of…
October is finally here, and I boldly declare fall to be my favorite season. It feels like a refresh and a reminder to slow down, both of which I need right now. I have been enjoying the cooler mornings, wrapping up in a blanket while it is still dark out and lingering over my pumpkin-spiced coffee. It’s in these minutes I reach for my Bible, being intentional about my time with God rather than reaching for my phone for distraction. The burdens of…
One of the questions pastors get asked a lot is, “Do you think Hitler will go to heaven?” You say God is gracious, you say God can forgive anything, so how gracious is God, really? (see video)
When I was an undergraduate in psychology, all the Psych 101 students had the opportunity to participate in an experiment for extra credit. Being a budding social scientist, I was curious and frankly needed some extra credit, so I signed up for an experiment. This is what I was asked to do. I sat down at a table and an experimenter took an ordinary deck of playing cards and flashed six of them at me. She flashed them quickly asking me to identify…
Today is the feast of the Holy Trinity, a good time to ponder what the Trinity is about and what it means for our everyday faith journeys. It seems to be a tricky aspect of our Christian faith to explain. But, do we even need to figure it out? What can the Trinity teach us?
I began to wonder...what if Paul was actually praying for me, now? I wonder how scripture would come alive if we read the stories more in the now than in the past.
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