“Somehow I have to trust that God is at work in me and that the way I am being moved to new inner and outer places is part of a larger movement. . .” ~ Henri Nouwen The story of Mary is a story of willingness and trust. Scripture describes her as being “much…
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?” ~Psalm 78:19 The scriptures for Sunday are evocative. And they are fitting for this very different Advent season. Isaiah 43:20-21 evokes hope in our God who “provides water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” In John 1:23, beyond the mysterious voices of wildlife, there is…
“God wills comfort and consolation to those in the very depths of despair and depends upon human as well as divine agency to bring that message from God’s royal realm.” ~Richard F. Ward Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow. But if we are wise, we know that there’s tomorrow.…
“We are alive in God’s wildness. This Divine wildness is beautiful, strange, and not at all controlled by us. There are places in the Divine plan that we do not know…The activity in these spaces brings life and death, spiritual warfare, and new creation. Occasionally, we feel the movements, we glimpse the shapes, we perceive…
Guest Reflection “Stay Woke” is a reminder of the necessity to remain vigilant regarding the activities and events going on around us during times of conflict and strife. This phrase is typically used to speak to those times when the media tends to filter what is real, what is not real and what has been…
“The greatest risk of all, it turns out, is not to risk anything, not to care deeply and profoundly enough about anything to invest deeply, to give your heart away and in the process to risk everything. The greatest risk of all, it turns out, is to play it safe, to live cautiously and prudently.”…
Holy Creator, we face uncertain times. How long, O God, until we are free of pandemics that continue to rage? How long, O God, until walls of division crumble and neighbors meet in open places? How long, O God, until election angst calms into just, bipartisan cause? In this time of uncertainty help us to…
“We are all of equal worth, born equal in dignity and born free, and for this reason deserving of respect whatever our external circumstances. We are created freely for freedom. . .We belong in a world whose very structure, whose essence, is diversity, almost bewildering in extent.” ~Desmond Tutu A friend from another city recently…
“I shall not despair. I shall not allow the events of my life to make me their prisoner. I shall believe that life has much more to it than experience disclosed to me. I shall continually believe that God is not through, not merely with life, but with me. I shall co-operate with God until…
In human relationships, waiting can signal many different things. It can be a way to show respect and support for an elder. It can invite engagement in prayer and contemplation. It can communicate perseverance through 15 minutes cuing to buy groceries while social distancing, or for 4 hours to exercise the right to vote. Waiting…
