When I woke up to the news of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine I saw on the map the spots where the initial bombs struck and Odessa was one of the places. My husband's family moved to the United States in the early 1900s from Odessa. They were German but had migrated Read More...
Mike was right. I lobbied for a four-week series on the Beatitudes but Dr. Mike Graves thought eight would be better since there are eight beatitudes. I thought you might get bored. Or I would! But now that we are approaching week eight, I realize that there is so much left to Read More...
Our congregation hosted the annual senior minister’s conference last week. About 45 Disciples of Christ clergy from across the US met at the Hotel Intercontinental and in our building for three days of presentations by guest speakers and dialogues among the clergy, all of them interesting and inspiring. On the last day Read More...
Square dancing and line dancing; hiking and go-carting; horseback riding and fishing; joking and laughing; golfing and crafting are just a few of the vivid memories my family holds of Christian Community Camp in Colorado. But two memories stand out for me. The first one was when Connor was seven months old Read More...
Stone and stained glass form a church, a physical structure where we gather. Grandmothers and toddlers form a church, a living breathing community singing, praying, sharing bread and wine. Our definition of church has been challenged and stretched during the pandemic. What does it mean to be the gathered people of God Read More...
The new year has begun with a series of disappointments and delays. I had been looking forward to a special midwinter event in Texas for over a year and today it was converted to a “virtual.” As it sunk in that the relational aspect of the event had vanished, I felt hollow. Read More...
None of us wanted to be in this position again. Covid came to two of my three kids' households over Christmas. My friend who is a clinic nurse picked up two weekend shifts on the floor beyond her regular 50 hour a week job because the major medical center where she works Read More...
Santa has a lot of territory to cover. So when our son Connor was a toddler, Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve. Somehow Santa always came by and left some goodies under the tree while we were at the 5:30 Children’s and Family service. This meant that we were on Read More...
It’s the season of gift giving where we try to figure out what glove size Aunt Betsy wears or if cousin Ella already has the soccer thingy she wanted. Is there a way to surprise your spouse with the gift he really wants but has not yet mentioned? All this online ordering, Read More...
I spent last Christmas Eve with 11 folks crammed in my basement watching our candlelight service via live stream. There was a certain charm to it. But this year I eagerly anticipate three in person services with all of you. Advent means waiting and the kind of waiting where we lean forward Read More...
“The surprise is not that, unexpectedly, things turn out better than expected. No, the real surprise is that God’s light is more real than all the darkness, that God’s truth is more powerful than all human lies, that God’s love is stronger than death.” Henri Nouwen As we approach Thanksgiving Day, we Read More...
The last few weeks have been more chaotic than typical. We moved out of our house to have some small rehab projects done. And though we were lavishly and lovingly cared for by local relatives who took us in and fed us and didn’t complain when the stay extended an extra week, Read More...
“This love between us was born from the first human; It cannot be eradicated As the river finds its way into the ocean What is inside me flows into you. (Isa Upanishad v. 6-7) Is there a love between humans that cannot be eradicated? The above text from Hindu poetry easily evokes Read More...
Rain, like mist, saturated the darkness. Something was odd. Too quiet. After passing a few houses on my block, I realized the power was out in much of the neighborhood. No compressor motors were running. No lights humming. It reminded me of the eerie quiet that settled over the city at the Read More...
Suddenly all the cars behind me were honking. Some folks were shouting obscenities in the direction of my orange hatchback. A uniformed official was waving at me and walking towards me. How was I supposed to know that exact change didn’t mean paper bills and coins equaling $3.50 but rather coins totaling Read More...
