This year the suffering servant text struck me differently – struck me almost in the way Rocky Balboa gets struck over and over in the famous movie franchise Rocky.
Read MoreIn anticipation of Palm Sunday, and in the aftermath of yet another shooting, today’s devotion is a poem written b Pr. Katy Stenta. Hosanna, a dangerous prayer indeed.
Read MoreThe last few weeks have brought worry and panic to the banking world. The panic began with the sudden collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank over a three-day span. These bank closures led anxious customers to withdraw their money from other smaller regional banks and place it with bigger institutions that are better capitalized.
Read MoreSomeone said to me just the other day, “The church mayyyyy be broken.”
I can’t say I totally disagree, as there is so much about our church that simply doesn’t work anymore, or that sorta, kinda works, but desperately needs transformation.
Read MoreIt has been a difficult few weeks for me, particularly as I watch the civil rights of my LGBTQ siblings stripped away. It has been difficult to assure my children that it will be ok when they saw the news report of Russia’s downing of a US drone when I have no power to give that assurance. Or to again think of the thousands living in the aftermath of earthquakes and war, to hear stories of Afghani women and girls still banned from education and work.
Read More[Jesus] cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. - John 11.43
Read MoreYes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. These words are familiar – the creed we speak in community, boldly proclaimed as one when the body of Christ gathers in worship.
Read MoreToday is the commemoration of Archbishop Oscar Romero, a Salvadoran priest who was assassinated while standing behind the altar as he prepared to preside at mass. He is known as a martyr and prophet, using his voice to speak out against the human rights violations of the people of El Salvador. As we look at Bp. Romero’s life, it is easy to see that indeed the Spirit dwelt within him, and even with the daily threat of death and violence he continued to speak boldly to the powers that oppressed the Salvadorans.
Read MoreHave you ever felt the satisfaction of bringing something to life? Maybe you had an idea that became reality maybe, or a seed (literal or figurative) planted and grown?
I often marvel at the power we humans have to create life, and was struck this year as we have been reimagining different aspects of our faith, how Ezekiel plays a role in this story of the valley of dry bones.
Read MoreBack in the days of the pandemic when I had a little more time to sit at home and watch TV, I found myself drawn to a show called “Good Bones,” a show about a mother/daughter duo who buys dilapidated houses with ‘good bones’ and rehabs them – transforms them – into beautiful places for others to make a home.
Read MoreIn the city of Dumaguete, Negros Oriental Island, in the Philippines, groups of people have come together to fight against a proposal that they believe will severely impact their community. This proposal, P23-B, is a land reclamation project that seeks to develop the coastlines of the city.
Read MoreIn a recent episode of the podcast Hidden Brain, researcher, and author Dacher Keltner talks about what happens when we experience awe. It turns out that stopping to look at nature creates deep joy and happiness in human beings.
Read MoreELCA Worship shares their news for March, 2023.
We enter these latter weeks in Lent and anticipate the Three Days, attentive to the depth of human experience these days bring. Amid deep grief and great joy, pain and pleasure, quiet prayer and jubilant praise, God is with us. In this and every season the ELCA Worship staff note resources and events that can be helpful to you in your ministry.
Read MoreBuried with Christ in death, joined to him in the waters of baptism, and raised with him to new life every day by default means that we are ‘in the Lord.’ And being joined to God in Christ Jesus means that God’s vision of mercy, justice, and love become our own vision…
Read MoreThe Lord will preserve you from all evil and will keep your life. The Lord will watch over your going out and you're coming in, from this time forth forevermore. —Psalm 121.7-8
Read MoreThe [formerly blind] man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.”
Read MoreCatching a new vision can be messy business. In Jesus’ case in John 9, it was a muddybusiness, that included literal dirt, bathing, and neighbors arguing. Do you ever get the sense that we are living this story?
Read MoreBeing open to God’s vision can be something of an enigma for me. I don’t know about you, but I often start to dream, plan, pray about, and imagine how a certain thing might turn out.
Read MoreI can really sympathize with Samuel . He was called by God to anoint Saul as king over Israel, only Saul disobeyed God – and God decided to go another route. Reading 1 Samuel 15-16 over again, it doesn’t even seem like Samuel and Saul were good friends, and yet Samuel grieved that what was potentially going to be a good thing never panned out.
Read MoreYvonne Shortt is an artist who uses grasses, clay, moss, and other natural materials to create beautiful sculptures of people’s heads. Slowly over time Yvonne began losing her eyesight because of a rare genetic disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. Her story is part of a documentary called Adapt-Ability by filmmaker James Robinson which highlights how her limitations are really a gift to her art.
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