Sunday, September 13, 2020
Like many Christians, I seek to serve; I look for opportunities to help. Unwittingly I appoint myself judge over who needs help and what help they need. I see the homeless on the street and decide who to give to and in what amount.Congregations and community groups...
Saturday, September 12, 2020
As a consultant, I am often invited into spaces where I may know less than those I am advising. I do not understand chemistry as well as an engineer, instruction as well as a curriculum designer. Yet I am invited to counsel and help to clarify paths around and through...
Friday, September 11, 2020
John is the gospel of the divine Jesus, who foretells his own death and who is the Word incarnate. In the story of the raising of Lazarus, Jesus decides not to go directly when he hears his friend is ill. He is infinitely confident in his divinity and seems to know...
Thursday, September 10, 2020
From the Archives: October 10, 1952The psalmist appears to be celebrating the two things that have most impressed their mind and spirit: the glory of God manifested in the heavens and the righteousness of God as revealed in the Law. The firs….(View this reading...
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
There is always more to be done: I sometimes wish I could extend the day infinitely, just to catch up so that tomorrow might arrive with a blank slate. The blue light of our screens and the caffeine in our coffees incrementally extend day into night, often at the cost...
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Paul and Barnabas have just healed a man, lame from birth, in the name of Jesus. The people are amazed and attribute the act to the men before them, not the God they serve. We only see what we know how to look for.By putting Edison’s face on the light...
Monday, September 7, 2020
In large-group discussions, I often experience a great deal of anxiety before I contribute. A thought will hit me, and I quickly bat it away. I try to listen even harder to what others are saying, but the incessant buzzing of that thought grows in intensity until I...
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Many of my relationships are challenged by the scarcity of time. We want to give our best and most fully present selves to each other, but we fall short of our own hopes, intentions, and expectations. Paul encourages us to pay our debts so that we owe no...
Saturday, September 5, 2020
God calls us into many kinds of relationships: with God’s heart, with God’s creation, with the people around us, and with ourselves. These relationships can give life and joy—and they can take it away. The thief can sound like the shepherd, especially in a world where...
Friday, September 4, 2020
I have become unsurprised by bad news: another political mess, another milestone of ecological unraveling, another conflict on the global stage. It is often the good news that can be hard for me to accept and digest, especially when it comes from somewhere...
