The sights, sounds, and smells of the holidays lift our spirits and warm our hearts. But these holy days are frozen in melancholy for those who work the land: For the farmer whose acreage lies fallow under a blanket of snow and ice, for the backyard gardener whose little plot sits as dull and lifelessContinue reading “A Pure Heart”
Tag Archives: Advent
A Worshipful Heart
According to AAA, nearly 82 million Americans were expected to travel 50 or more miles over last weekend’s Thanksgiving holiday. And among that horde going over the river and through the woods, 6 million hardy souls got to grandmother’s house by airplane. And all those flyers yearned (or even prayed) for hassle-free journeys that satisfiedContinue reading “A Worshipful Heart”
A Listening Heart
An ecumenical mix of thoughts and reflections from a handful of Christian writers have strongly influenced the foundations and practice of my faith and belief. Words from Parker Palmer, a Quaker, encourage me to live more courageously and authentically. “Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conformsContinue reading “A Listening Heart”
An Old Heart Becomes New
At the risk of reducing the grand truth of our relationship with God to a few mere words, let me say this: God loves you just the way you are. If you think God’s love for you would be stronger if your faith was more muscular, you are wrong. If you think God’s love forContinue reading “An Old Heart Becomes New”
What Did Mary Know, and When Did She Know It?
The song asks the honest question, “Mary, did you know?” What did you know, and when did you know it? For some, the lyrics rub the wrong way with the course feeling of mansplaining to Mary, “Hey, did you know your Son wasn’t just some random kid?” The very notion is a non-starter: That MaryContinue reading “What Did Mary Know, and When Did She Know It?”
Bitter-Sweet
Complaining, grumbling, and doubting are among the human emotions fueling the plot of our Advent Scripture lessons from the Old Testament book of Exodus, the epic story of the Lord God freeing his people from slavery in Egypt. Their journey to freedom through the Red Sea has been grueling, demanding, and exhausting, and folks areContinue reading “Bitter-Sweet”
Connecting the Dots
The feelings and emotions that change stirs in your heart and mind are expected and understandable. You’re sad, anxious; disappointed, angry. Change challenges truths and understandings once regarded as absolute and unquestionable. Long-held assumptions start to feel flimsy and paper-thin. Time-honored bedrock suddenly feels like all-enveloping quicksand. Like it or not – mostly not, you’veContinue reading “Connecting the Dots”
Sing Along with Moses
When your mind’s made up, you don’t often change it, because, well, change is hard. Our history as individuals and communities proves the point. Yet look back even a mere handful of decades in our lived experience to discover that certain beliefs are changeable and attitudes do change: Many for the better, others not soContinue reading “Sing Along with Moses”
Wet Feet
Advent is a season of new beginnings, and Scripture is inviting us to see ourselves in two particular biblical stories of new beginnings – both tales briming with hopeful expectation and debilitating fear. In last Sunday’s opening scene of Luke’s Gospel, an angel surprises a faithful priest, Zechariah, with word that he and his wife,Continue reading “Wet Feet”
‘Mortals, Join the Mighty Chorus’
The miracles surrounding the birth of Jesus begin to pop and sizzle long before that cold, dark night in a manger stall. Months earlier, an angel visits a man named Zechariah and shares astounding word that he and his wife, Elizabeth – long past her child-bearing years and like Zechariah long resigned to being childlessContinue reading “‘Mortals, Join the Mighty Chorus’”