Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet. -Maya Angelou, 21st century Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. -Mark Twain, 19th century Heather Heyer. The 13 people […]
But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” -Matthew 14:27 (Preached on Sunday, August 13, 2017) Have you ever been on a large body of water, in a small boat, in the midst of a storm? It is a most frightening experience, I am sure. […]
Dear Members and Friends, Hatred can rot away at a person’s intelligence and conscience. Enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation, incite cruel mortal struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and hinder a nation’s progress toward freedom and democracy. […]
When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” -Matthew 14:15 (Preached on Sunday, August 6, 2017) The Wilderness is a pure place. At least […]
Dear Members and Friends, How to Recognize GraceIt takes you by surpriseIt comes in odd packagesIt sometimes looks like lossOr mistakesIt acts like rainOr like a seedIt’s both reliable and unpredictableIt’s not what you were aiming atOr what you thought you deservedIt supplies what you needNot necessarily what you wantIt grows you upAnd lets you […]
Dear Members and Friends, God does not love some ideal person, but rather human beings just as we are, not some ideal world, but rather the real world. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 20th century In the reflection last week about listening I mentioned how author Diane Musho Hamilton suggests that listening and meditation have a lot in common. […]
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” -Genesis 28:16 (Preached on Sunday, July 23, 2017) An 85-year-old couple, married almost 60 years, died in a car crash. They had been in good health, particularly in the last decade, due to […]
Listening is an act of surrender. -Brian Eno, 20th century But isn’t listening a natural act? Isn’t that what my two ears are for and something I do all the time without even having to think about it? That is what most of us think most of the time. But the truth is: nobody listens well […]
Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. -Matthew 13:8-9 (Preached on Sunday, July 16, 2017) This parable is not called the parable of the soil […]
Don’t judge each day by the harvest your reap but by the seeds that you plant. -Robert Louis Stevenson, 19th century Again this week I participated in a Memorial Celebration of Life for a person who had a wide and powerful impact with his life. Like Betty Metcalf, there were powerful witnesses shared about the deep […]