Forward Day By Day – January 15, 2018

Monday, January 15, 2018

Celtic Christians characterize the Holy Spirit as the wild goose, flying when and where it chooses. The Canada geese in my neighborhood invariably fly overhead at key moments in my spiritual journey, as if listening to my prayers. I see a goose alone far up in the...

Repent and Follow

Monday, January 15, 2018

The post Repent and Follow appeared first on d365 Daily Devotionals. This post appeared here first: Repent and Follow [D365 Daily Devotions]

Why Confirmation and what has it to do with the Holy Spirit?

Sunday, January 14, 2018

When Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized by his cousin John it was much simpler. Water washed away the sins of the repentant. In Jesus’ case baptism was accompanied by the descent of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus’ disciples sat at his feet and listened, and...

Forward Day By Day – January 14, 2018

Sunday, January 14, 2018

A three-page letter is neatly folded in my Bible. I read some portion of it before sunrise every day. It begins, “To My precious child,” and ends with love from God. I know God didn’t actually type and mail the letter. God nudged a fellow believer to do so. What still...

A Call to Adventure

Saturday, January 13, 2018

John 1:43-51   I am from a small town. It’s called Sweeny, Texas. It’s not the least bit special. Well, it did snow on Christmas Day in 2004 and that was pretty special. People still talk about it. But even with that claim to fame, you might say that...

Forward Day By Day – January 13, 2018

Saturday, January 13, 2018

The December night was dark but mild. My wife and I walked the country road near our home. We did this every night, a way to leave our work behind. For a mile, Kim was silent. I wondered what was wrong. “I found a lump here,” she said, putting my hand to her breast....

Epiphany Fireflies

Friday, January 12, 2018

The tree is down, the lights have been put away, the kings have gone to the stable and left their gifts, and here we are. But just because we celebrated Epiphany on January 6, it doesn’t mean that we can now forget about it. We’re in a whole season called...

Forward Day By Day – January 12, 2018

Friday, January 12, 2018

Of all the Episcopal churches in all the world, he walks into mine. I hadn’t seen Glenn Busch in decades. As a teenager, I had borrowed the Bible he received at his ordination for a youth group activity, and I accidentally tore a page. Forty years later, he was the...

Hero of the Moment

Thursday, January 11, 2018

In the readings for Friday’s Daily Office three of the major figures of the bible are mentioned. First, in the Old Testament reading we have the introduction of Noah. Then, in the New Testament, we have a mention of Moses. Finally in the Gospel we have Jesus...

Forward Day By Day – January 11, 2018

Thursday, January 11, 2018

I had never heard of Massive Resistance before I accepted a newspaper job in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1979. I had no idea the Farmville Herald had written editorials advocating for closing schools rather than integrating them. I had my blue-eyed life neatly...

Vowing to Follow

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Feast Day of St. Aelred Ruth 1:15-18 Ten years into our relationship, Rosean and I were finally able to have a commitment ceremony. Our dear friend Ann Fontaine had been ordained a couple of years earlier, and she was willing to preside.  We invited friends from both...

Shine

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

The Collect for this coming Sunday, the Second after the Epiphany: Almighty God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacrament, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be...

Forward Day By Day – January 10, 2018

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

The Lamb could have run from the slaughter, gone where the hammers and the nails couldn’t find him. But he kept on walking toward John the Baptist, carrying the certainty of the cross in his heart. Jesus knew that Golgotha was the only place where he could find us,...

Forward Day By Day – January 9, 2018

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Our pain comes in many forms: physical, emotional, psychological—these are our “Lazarus places.” Some part of our life has died or is dying—a relationship, a job, something or someone we hold dear. We feel vital threads being pulled from the tapestry of our very...

One Year: God shows up

Monday, January 8, 2018

It’s been one year since I began this weekly writing. That’s a lot of words. A lot of prayers. A lot of reflections. A lot of time spent wondering if my words even matter. A lot of emotions. A lot of feelings poured onto the page.   I give thanks for the...