After church service yesterday I went to a play called Silent, a one man 80 minute show depicting a homeless man. It was remarkable in both its performance and in its refraining from providing the answer. There was no call for services and no suggestion that “if only we did this or that” homelessness would … Continue reading Refined
Category: Faith Activity
What are you waiting for?
What are you waiting for? This rhetorical question is often used to get us moving and doing. But that’s not the intent today. Our Psalm proclaims “I will wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope…my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more … Continue reading What are you waiting for?
Loneliness and Solitude
From the book, The Eternal Now, sermons of Paul Tillich written for college aged young people: "Our lanugage has wisely sensed two sides of man's being alone. It has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone." On … Continue reading Loneliness and Solitude
Speaking Jesus
Christianity certainly has a rich back story found in the Hebrew scriptures. But today I’m more interested in the “after story,” what happens when the final scene has ended. The gospel of John tells the story of Jesus but is written long after Jesus died; long after the resurrection encounters. Yet, despite John being the … Continue reading Speaking Jesus
An Easter Call
Easter morning—He is Risen!—He is Risen, Indeed! Sin and Salvation Jonathan Edwards shouts out We are sinners in the hands of an angry God Look what we have done To ourselves Our neighbors Our nation Our world Our God Look at what we haven’t done For ourselves Our neighbors Our nation Our world Our God … Continue reading An Easter Call
Faith of Jesus
One of the seasons of the Way--the earliest name given to Christianity--is Lent. The season’s beginning is marked with a worship service known as Ash Wednesday. As the name suggests, ashes are central to the imagery and the ritual where the sign of the cross, put on the forehead with ashes, is a sign of … Continue reading Faith of Jesus
If
My daughter’s school assigned her fifth grade class to create a poetry notebook, to contain both poems she wrote and those she found and enjoyed. To further this I read a poetry anthology from my childhood with her, and we came upon Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “If—.“ On revisiting this poem for the first time in … Continue reading If
Life-giving Transformation
Before Jesus begins his ministry, people from all over Judea go out to the wilderness to John the Baptist. There they hear John’s message to “repent,” to turn toward a new direction, and receive a baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 3: 1- 6, Mark 1: 2 -6, Luke 3: 1-6, John 1: 19-23). … Continue reading Life-giving Transformation
The Sixth Day 