Forward Day By Day – January 8, 2018

Monday, January 8, 2018

Public schools reopened in Prince Edward County in 1964, but it was too late for many children. Their educational opportunities were gone. Many suffered the wounds of racism and still bear the scars today. But people in the community have begun lighting the way for a...

Known and Called

Monday, January 8, 2018

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

Forward Day By Day – January 7, 2018

Sunday, January 7, 2018

How did we reach this wasteland? God had such a simple dream: We would live happily ever after. Now it seems every glass slipper is broken, shattered, and the shards tear our bare feet. Every apple is poisonous, offered by serpents who promise there are no strings...

The Magi: seeking the beloved

Saturday, January 6, 2018

How dear to me is your dwelling, O LORD of hosts!* My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God. Psalm 84:1 How many of us are doing now what we thought we would be doing when we thought about that as...

Forward Day By Day – January 6, 2018

Saturday, January 6, 2018

For African-American children in Prince Edward County in the 1950s, there were not enough wise men or women. The few who spoke up were ignored. Fear is the enemy of faith. Rather than integrate following the Brown v. Board of Education decision, school leaders adopted...

Epiphany Gifts

Friday, January 5, 2018

Today is the feast of the Epiphany, a day that celebrates the visitation of the wise men, or Magi, bearing gifts to the Christ child. It is also the beginning of a new liturgical season, one marked by a search for new epiphanies or insights that help us on our...

Forward Day By Day – January 5, 2018

Friday, January 5, 2018

Sixteen-year-old Barbara Johns was in the belly of Jim Crow segregation, swallowed by white supremacy. “God, please help us,” she prayed in her bedroom in Prince Edward County, Virginia. “We are your children too.” Johns was distraught over the conditions she and her...

He stinketh

Thursday, January 4, 2018

AM Psalm 2, 110:1-5(6,7) Joshua 2:2-9; Eph. 6:10-20; John 11:17-27,38-44 Eve of Epiphany: PM Psalm 29, 98 Isa. 66: 18-23; Rom. 15:7-13   As much as I love the NRSV translation of the Bible, the story of Lazarus is one of those stories where I truly miss the King...

Forward Day By Day – January 4, 2018

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Is there room on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for one more monument? Let’s build a National Light of Reconciliation—a beacon of light visible from everywhere in the capital. A light to blaze a trail through the darkness that divides us when we close our eyes...

God’s Works Revealed in Us

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

John 9:1-12, 35-38 When I was young I was out fishing along the Snake River in Wyoming.  The river was in flood, so I wasn’t catching much of anything, but the day was a perfect embrace of lush smells, beautiful sights, and warmth.  Suddenly I felt a little...

Forward Day By Day – January 3, 2018

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

We are going to capsize! This storm is too powerful. Howling all around us and roaring inside of me. I am so very sorry I brought you out here. I should have known better. I’m no sailor. I can’t even keep myself afloat. Everything seemed so clear beside the manger...

Becoming shrewd readers and good listeners

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Back when I was young, full of spit and fury, I relished the New Testament book of James. It is so didactic and ethical and uncompromising, and I loved it the way I might have loved a fist-in-the-air protest speech. Still today, there is much I find engaging in James’...

Forward Day By Day – January 2, 2018

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

We were wet, freezing, and famished. The two-hour drive home had been agony. The car’s heater was broken and rain had fallen throughout the outdoor concert. On that spring day in 1983, we listened to an Irish band most Americans didn’t know existed—U2. You’ve got to...

My Beloved Children

Monday, January 1, 2018

My Beloved Children,   I know many of you are busy making resolutions now. New ways to be happier and healthier. New ways to be more creative. Inspiration is all around if you’re looking to change your life, Or just to make it more exciting. Or perhaps simpler....