Christmas Eve, Incarnation, and Knowing Mary

Last updated on: December 12, 2014 at 9:54 am By Marg Herder

The setting was perfection. Large gothic sanctuary, slate floor, wooden pews with iron candle holders, a hundred soft flames gently illuminating the space. Christmas Eve and Maundy Thursday were the only services conducted by candlelight. The stunning chancel window glowed, Jesus with angels surrounding him, the Ascension. Hundreds of organ pipes framed the rose window in the back. Timpani, brass, and the choir looked out high above the congregation. I used to wait the entire year for it. The most... Read more

Be the Sign

Last updated on: December 11, 2014 at 9:44 am By Mihee Kim-Kort

These are the days. Natalie Merchant came on over the radio as we sat and sipped wine in the brightly lit kitchen that first night. Ministers gone wild is what Jim, one of our hosts, would call the weekend as his wife, Heidi filled up our glasses. Conversations about raising kids and remembering the first week in the church and then lamenting at the exhaustion and hearing how that does change a little when the kids go to school. When... Read more

Holiday Serving: Helping People Experiencing Homelessness

Last updated on: January 7, 2019 at 3:03 pm By Bec Cranford-Smith

What can you do to help those who are experiencing homelessness this holiday season? It seems many people think about those less fortunate around the Christmas holiday. As soon as the coffee shops roll out their peppermint latte, we instinctively want to connect with others. I don’t know if it’s ingrained in us as a civilization to come together during the Mid-winter around the light. Maybe it’s left over from our days of being agrarian; we needed the light to... Read more

Life Without Eternity (The End of Metaphysics Series)

Last updated on: December 10, 2014 at 6:17 am By George Elerick

Ludwig Wittgenstein once said that, “…there is something wrong with trying to answer metaphysical questions with the language we use.” We live our lives in hope of some sort of after life. We are told that before we were born that we were ‘knit together’ in our mother’s womb. That there is some guiding supreme being who encompasses all meaning and all power. That somewhere beneath the earth or on it, is the essence of evil. Now, for many... Read more

Sacred, Pregnant Waiting

Last updated on: December 8, 2014 at 8:03 pm By Denika Anderson

Advent. This time of year has always been somewhat sacred to me. Despite the fact that I live in Minnesota, and I hate winter. Despite the fact that Christmas in the United States is pretty much just a celebration of consumerism. Despite the fact that I haven’t identified with Christianity for quite some time. I think it’s the mystery of it all. The unknown, the waiting for something that hasn’t yet happened but is so palpable you can nearly taste it.... Read more

Towards a New Definition of Incarnation

Last updated on: March 8, 2015 at 5:30 pm By Lelanda Lee

Advent begins the Christian year, a period of waiting and spiritual preparation for the Incarnation of Christ, the birth of the baby Jesus. The enfleshment of God in the human person of Jesus Christ is a foundational tenet in Christianity, which worships a Triune God that is fully transcendent and fully human. God in Christ takes on human form and the sins of the world so that humanity may be redeemed and made new by being baptized or initiated into... Read more

Advent at the Movies

Last updated on: December 5, 2014 at 9:36 pm By Mike Stavlund

In a move that launched us into 1997, our family recently started a Netflix subscription. The kids needed something for Friday Night Movie Nights, Dad needs to catch up on some films to maintain some shred of cultural currency, and Mom likes to fall asleep to Call The Midwife (while I remain rapt and wide awake at this excellent BBC series). It’s been a fun adventure having a zillion movies right under your right thumb. One film that everyone else... Read more

Joy in Solemnity

Last updated on: December 5, 2014 at 10:39 am By Anita Brown

‘I have spoke with the tongue of angels I have held the hand of a devil’ Wisdom from U2 Yin/Yang Inhale/ Exhale Day/Night Last night my loving husband of 22 years spoke truth to my heart. And it hurt like HELL. But apparently was exactly what I needed to hear from the person who loves me most. “I don’t understand where this self-loathing comes from. You used to be so confident in your intelligence. I think for some reason, you... Read more

‘Killer Mike’ and the Tragedy of Advent

Last updated on: December 4, 2014 at 9:01 am By Tim Conder

I spent over a decade doing youth ministry and have worked most of my career with persons in their teens, 20s, and 30s. Minus the creepy overtones, I resonate with that horrific line spoken by Matthew McConaughey as he gazes at a group of high school girls in Dazed and Confused (1993), “I get older, they stay the same age.” One of my most valued practices in working with younger persons is what I called “the ten year rule”. I never... Read more

‘Tis the Season for Gift Giving

Last updated on: March 8, 2015 at 5:31 pm By Lelanda Lee

Whether it’s Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa that you observe, the season of gift giving is upon us. The joy of giving and receiving gifts is often in conflict with the stress of gift giving – the financial stress and consumerism of buying gifts, the emotional stress of choosing gifts, and the time stress of making gifts or creating gift experiences. We preach that it’s the thought that counts and not the gift itself, but the culture via advertising makes us... Read more