Advent. It’s not a word that I grew up with in the Christmas season. Deck the Halls, Santa Clause, Christmas cookies and lots of goodies – that’s what I’m familiar with at this time of the year. Advent was always something that other churches did. I never knew exactly...
Need some help expressing thankfulness? Let the Psalms guide your heart to gratitude whether you are in a place of awe, despair or gratefulness. The ancient words will give you words for today. Begin with any of these Psalms listed below. Read the whole psalm; pray...
I believe that Jesus is the good shepherd. I’m just not so sure that we are very good sheep. It has always been one of my favorite images–Jesus, the good shepherd. He walks through the gate in the cool of the morning and calls our name to gather us to him. He...
My grip is strong. Too strong. I hold on tight to what I think I deserve. I grasp at what I’d like to come my way. I cling to my pride, selfish ambitions and resentments. I hold on to a life without suffering. I want to claim my rights and grab God’s blessings. I...
What’s your native language? Mine is English. I added Spanish as a second language in the 80’s. I do all right, but I know that I speak it with a Gringa accent. This week we have a friend staying with us from Brazil whose native language is Portuguese. He speaks...
Yesterday I read the words that Jesus spoke to a group of religious people, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he would say to the religious people today–myself included. He told them that in spite of their diligent search of Scriptures, they still missed him....
