Texts: Luke 3:3-14 and Malachi 3:1-4 One of Barrett’s and my favorite movies is called “Little Miss Sunshine.” It’s an odd movie, and it is not one for the kids—it is rated R for language, and some substance abuse–but it is a movie that offers some wonderful images of grace. It’s the story of a…
Month: December 2012
Tuesday, Second Week of Advent
“Parker Palmer once observed that community is the ‘place where the person you least want to live with always lives.’…In the eyes of others, we might be that person…” After a busy weekend, I am back. And what a devotion to come back to! It is difficult to think of community–real, authentic community–as a…
Thought of You
It’s been about a year since I first found this video, and it is just as powerful as ever.
Thursday, First Week of Advent
“…as we come to God with our hurts–honestly, not superficially–something life changing can begin slowly to happen….true gratitude embraces all of life: the good and the bad, the joyful and the painful, the holy and the not-so-holy.” I have funerals on the brain this week, so I will share a funeral story from my own…
Wednesday, First Week of Advent
“In prayer, we seek God’s voice and allow God’s word to penetrate our fear and resistance so that we can begin to hear what God wants us to know. And what God wants us to know is that before we think or do or accomplish anything, before we have much money or little money, the…
Outrospection
RSA Animate produces these educational videos. They are fantastic!
I Will Tell My Daughter I’m Beautiful
I Will Tell My Daughter I’m Beautiful This mother shares her reasons for telling her daughters that she feels beautiful–even when it doesn’t come naturally. Maybe for her daughters, it will come naturally as they grow from girls into women.
Tuesday, First Week of Advent
“We want to help….But unless we realize that God’s blessing is coming to us from those we want to serve, our help will be short-lived, and eventually we may feel burned out….How can we keep consoling the dying when their deaths only bring us more grief? The answer is that they all hold a blessing,…
And here is my colleague, Jodi’s commentary for the first Sunday of Advent
Heart of My Heart Jodi’s blog Advent Devotional Commentary Jesus Beloved Son by Henri J.M. Nouwen Luke 21:34 Sunday Day One Usually I do not comment on the Sunday devotional. But this being the first devotional of this series,… Actually, The first sentence of the devotional jumped out at me. “Jesus has to be and…
Monday, First Week of Advent
I have pledged to join Pastor Jodi Haier in an Advent blogging discipline. We are both using the same Advent devotional with our churches (click the picture below for more information on the devotional), and we will both be sharing nearly-daily personal responses to each day’s readings. We’re excited to see how different our responses…
Christmas Crisis?
Throughout Advent, I will be sharing songs and images that connect to each Sunday’s lectionary text. This week, the song is “The Trumpet Child,” by Over the Rhine. The image is “The Last Trumpet (recto); Two studies of a right eye, a profile of an open-mouthed young man, the head of an eagle, and the…
Formative Music Moment
I heard this rare gem on the radio today and remembered what an impact it had on my understanding of human dignity in my early teens. Enjoy!
the beautiful changes... 