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December 9, 2017
First Week of Advent Master addition, skip division Psalm 90:12 So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. A nurse on my hospice team recently reported that a patient used racial slurs in her presence in reference to another colleague. The nurse was dismayed and tried to reason with… Read more »
December 8, 2017
The Christmas prayer tree A rural church reaches out in an unexpected way by Donna Frischknecht Jackson Silence fell upon the room. A woman at my table waved to the waitress to order another glass of wine. A good diversion on her part, I thought. Others around me glanced down at the meeting agenda,… Read more »
December 8, 2017
First Week of Advent Hear cries, understand groans Psalm 102:19-20 [The Lord] looked down from his holy height … to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die. My work as a hospice chaplain involves time at the bedside of dying patients. Near the transition between life and… Read more »
December 7, 2017
There’s Something About Mary Singing her song in the season of #metoo and #churchtoo by Susan Rothenberg Like most good Presbyterians, I had a weird relationship with Mary as I was growing up. She showed up in Protestant churches for nanosecond during the Advent/Christmas season. I barely noticed her fleeting presence in the nativity scene… Read more »
December 7, 2017
First Week of Advent Don’t throw stones, share the rock Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. My house sits on a corner lot, facing a busy intersection. Years ago we… Read more »
December 6, 2017
Preparing the way A Revised Common Lectionary resource for December 10 by Magdalena I. García The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ – Mark 1:3 Read the full lectionary passage here When we reject the distortion of God’s good news, and instead proclaim… Read more »
December 6, 2017
First Week of Advent Speak up, rise up Psalm 50:3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him. The season of Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming” or “arrival”) is a time when we prepare to celebrate the birth of… Read more »
December 5, 2017
First Week of Advent More compassion, fewer ornaments Psalm 33:5 [The Lord] loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. The earth is increasingly full of human-generated waste. Despite the decades-long emphasis on the three Rs of the environment — reduce, reuse and recycle — we throw away… Read more »
December 4, 2017
First Week of Advent Keep vigilant, nurture hope Psalm 130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. Like many women of my generation, I pursued higher education, married late and struggled with infertility. I became a mother by adoption at the age of 40, after two years of… Read more »
December 3, 2017
First Week of Advent Open doors, make room Psalm 24:7 Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. December is a nostalgic month for me. It brings back memories of the watershed day — December 29, 1969 — when my family left Cuba as exiles, not sure… Read more »