Ash Wednesday, March 6 Majesty everywhere O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! — Psalm 8:1a Many of us today will receive the ashen mark of a cross on our foreheads. We will hear the familiar phrase, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”… Read more »
A Lenten invitation to pray with art | Presbyterians Today About the devotional To see Jesus with the heart is know that in the long run his kind of life is the only life worth living. To see Jesus with the heart is not only to believe in him but little by little become… Read more »
The Missing Candle A Wedding Story by Ken Rummer My vote for most dangerous part of a wedding? The unity candle. A wick that refused to catch fire comes to mind. And I can still see the outdoor candle, just lit, that promptly succumbed to a mischievous breeze. In another wedding, two half-candles, individually… Read more »
Are We Undone by Our Expectations? by N. Graham Standish Years ago I worked with a deeply frustrated pastor. We’ll call him Wes. He couldn’t get his church to engage in almost any meaningful ministry or mission. A dinner to support a missionary? Too few signed up. Being more involved in the local food cupboard?… Read more »
The Needy and the Greedy What makes us afraid to give freely to the needy? by Rebecca Lister My son recently finished the requirements for the Boy Scout’s highest honor, Eagle Scout. As part of his final project, he designed and built a Little Free Pantry and a Little Free Library. He… Read more »
All together now Changes to make for changing planet by abby mohaupt I was recently interviewed by a German newspaper about the role of climate change denial and how one organizes a response to climate change. He wanted to know how climate change denial (by lobbyists and the fossil fuel industry) affects climate… Read more »
Walking the pictures A home gallery tour by Ken Rummer “Sweet Georgia Brown.” That was the tune I hummed as I carried my crib-aged children around the house in the middle of the night. It would be a night when we had tried diaper and milk and pacifier and rocking chair, and still there… Read more »
Does our leadership heal . . . or inflict pain? by N. Graham Standish I recently talked with a frustrated and disappointed pastor who was in tremendous pain over her struggling church. As I listened to her story, I suddenly had an insight: Perhaps everyone who comes to church is in pain. Perhaps everyone who… Read more »
Our God-given superpowers Spiderverse reminds us of Christ’s incarnation by Samuel Son We are approaching end of January so by now, your Christmas lights are rolled up, ornaments neatly boxed, and scattering of pine leaves vacuumed. My 13-year-old, though suffering from teen cynicism, surprised her parents by protesting our removal of the decorations, saying, “Christmas isn’t… Read more »
Red-tailed hawk A close encounter by Ken Rummer A large flapping draws my attention through the window. A red-tailed hawk has just touched down on the cedar railing of the deck and is now scanning the yard and the trail beyond. Brown… Read more »