Or The People Who Guide UsThis is a photo of Ruth, Ethel, and Isabel, my grandmother and her two sisters, taken around 1910, in Youngstown, Ohio, where all three girls were born. I love the quality of the early twentieth century black and white portrait photography. This image gives me a feeling of three human stories suspended in time.The large hair bows were a style of the day. I’ve seen them in illustrations of children’s books from the same period. The girls’ lacy…
“You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.” (Exodus 23:2-3)The verses above come from today’s reading from the Daily Lectionary (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 1149). Over time these daily readings allow us to revisit the depth and breadth of what is at the core of our Christian faith.The reading—Exodus 23:1-9—is part of a…
Station Eight - A woman hold photo of healthcare worker What could abash the little Bird Emily Dickinson Healing God, we repent that we havenot done enough to protect frontlinehealthcare workers. Grant comfort tofamilies grieving the loss of those whohave died as a result of the negligenceof our government’s response to thispandemic. Support and encourage ourfifirst responders as they continue tocare for the sick and dying in the faceof chaos and disease. We ask thesethings in the name of Jesus Christ whois with…
Years ago, a fellow whom I visited in a VA hospital told me this story. He, (we’ll call him “Bruce”), was at the gym observing a power lifter, (we’ll call him “James”), who was bench-pressing more than 350 pounds. For those who are wondering what bench-pressing is, it’s a form of exercise where the lifter lies on a bench, under a rack that holds a bar that has a series of weights added to it and lifts the weight with his arms enough…
We are quickly closing in on a year since the world as we knew it changed out from under us due to a global pandemic. Throughout this year we have ridden the ups and downs of ever changing recommendations and restrictions to how we live our daily lives and how we interact with others. We have lived the ups and downs of mental and emotional exhaustion brought by living through a pandemic. Finding many moments when we feel like we have nothing left…
It was 38 years ago on September 5, 1982 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Endicott, Washington that I was ordained into a ministry of Word and Sacrament. It’s been a long, joyous and sometimes strange journey that has taken me throughout the United States to be a pastor, a shepherd of the flock as they say. When this day rolls around each year my thoughts are taken back to that tiny community, population under 400, my thoughts go back to the people of…
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