At our house the day after Thanksgiving we begin the Christmas tree decorating and the Christmas cards. Soon snippiness, frustration, and marital discord erupts and bah humbug moves into our house.
Expressing Gratitude
“The research is clear: Those who consciously express gratitude for at least three to five components of their lives every week are simply happier than those who don’t.” – Joan Chittister quoting Martin E.P. Seligman By the time you read this someone has already begun menu planning, grocery shopping and …
Creating Spiritual Vitality in Our Youth
On a plastic rocking horse in the church nursery, I discovered the pure joy and carefree delight of a faith community.
Help, Thanks, Wow!
Sometimes our prayers seem anemic in the face of the world’s pain. What words are adequate in the face of evil atrocities?
Testimony Through Tears
I felt the knot form in my throat and the tears moisten my eyes. I thought “now stop this, it’s only the first museum, so you better pull it together”.
God’s Vision for Peace
When I was 17, I traveled with other Disciples of Christ youth to the United Nations in New York for an International Affairs seminar. First, we heard a briefing from the Palestinians and then a briefing from the Israelis. I remember how sitting in each briefing I felt complete support for each position.
The Suddenness of Sorrow
It arrives unbidden. It sneaks up on us. It oozes in and then rattles us when we didn’t even know there was an occasion. Grief comes not just at the graveyard but also in the ordinary routines of life.
Simply Showing Up
What do you do in your life that is incredibly important to you but deeply challenging to your spirit? Waking up in the night to feed a newborn? Flying across the country to sit with your 88-year-old mom during surgery?
It’s About Every One of Us
How does it feel to be pushed to the margins? One of my three children started out life as a sports fanatic, but by high school was more drawn to performing arts.
Awakening with Community
How do we awaken to the awe and wonder of life? In his recent book, “Life’s Too Short Not to Be Religious” author and professor David Dark says “No one awakens all by themselves”.
A Life-cherishing Force
Burnout, exhaustion, malaise, worry. We all have days when life feels more draining than energizing. Sometimes you are driving home from the office after a 10 hour work day and wondering if there is any food in the fridge to make a nourishing supper for the children. Sometimes you look …
So Many Things
It’s hard to put my finger on “the one thing.” For me, it is more a flood of feelings, a series of small moments. They accumulate like layers of fertile soil. A hike up a rocky path in Nicaragua to a young friend’s home with dirt floors. A human sling …
Suggestions for Summer Spirituality
Reading is not just for learning but can be a form of prayer, a spiritual practice.
Sharing More Than Space
Someone has said that in the US, the public swimming pools integrated faster than the baptistries. Over the first one hundred years of our congregation’s history, we periodically partnered with sister churches in the African American community. One frequent partner for pulpit exchanges, choir exchanges, book groups, dinner groups and …
Practicing Sabbath
Six days of work are spent To make a Sunday quiet That Sabbath may return. It comes in unconcern; We cannot earn or buy it. Suppose rest is not sent Or comes and goes unknown, The light, unseen, unshown. – Wendell Berry, This Day, Collected and New Sabbath Poems I’m …