XXI. SABBATH TIME (4/4) We are the children of Jesus and his companions. While Jesus on occasion challenged legalistic understandings of the Sabbath, he took Sabbath-keeping seriously. Many of us are experiencing an unexpected Sabbath these days. On Saturdays or Sundays, we can’t go out as usual, we aren’t shopping, or going to games. There aren’t any games to see! Life has slowed down for me, as my physical world has shrunk to my home, Craigville, Covell’s, and Dowse’s beaches,... Read more
XXI. THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE (4-3) You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine. (Matthew 5:14-16) Growing up, I learned the simple song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” The verses that went with it... Read more
This year Holy Week seems only too real. There is no faux suffering or abandonment to conjure up. No experiences of conflict to imagine. No encounters with religious and political powers and principalities we need to simulate. We are in the center of a maelstrom of uncertainty. The Pandemic has put everything in doubt. We have fled to our catacombs, sheltering in place, to avoid danger. Our churches are shuttered and worship services are virtual, and our re-opening days have... Read more
VOCATION IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC Can this time of pandemic be a call to deepen our sense of vocation? In this time of sheltering in place, can we discern God’s call in our lives? I believe that every moment is a vocational moment. Every situation is a call from God where our gifts and unique personality can be gifts to those around us. I believe that God gives us long-term as well as moment by moment visions and callings,... Read more
XX. A RABBI’S WISDOM If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when? (Rabbi Hillel) These words from Rabbi Hillel (110 BCE-10 CE) speak to the interplay of self-care and care for others. This older contemporary of Jesus, reminded us that our ability to help others depends on our personal self-affirmation. As the flight attendants say, “put on your oxygen mask first before helping... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Easter Sunday – April 12, 2020 Acts 10:34-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-18 Matthew 28:1-10 Just the other day, a fellow pastor noted, “I just can’t get into the Easter spirit this year. We’ve canceled everything public from our sunrise service to the sanctuary services and the Easter egg hunt. Online worship just doesn’t cut it for me.” I am sure that this pastor’s feelings are echoed by scores of other pastors and thousands... Read more
XIX. PRAYERS INSPIRED BY A STEEPLE “Pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) Each morning as I take my walk on the Centerville beaches, I spend a moment praying for the congregation I pastor as I gaze at the church’s steeple. I pray that we be a healing force in the community, that we reach out to the world around us, that we are safe, and in our safety that we serve others. This ritual has become central to my prayer... Read more
XVIII. HOW I GOT OVER? Over and over Over and over My soul looks back And wonders how I got over. (Gospel Hymn) My soul looks back and wonders how I got over! So goes a gospel hymn based on the experience of finding freedom from the chains that bind. Freedom from slavery and bondage. The experience of surviving a challenging situation, where hope was at risk. In a similar spirit, those of us who are sheltering in place yearn... Read more
XVII. POLLYANNA’S GLAD GAME Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (I Thessalonians 5:18). One of our fellow congregants does a daily Glad Game, adapted from the book and movie “Pollyanna.” As you might recall, the Glad Game emerged when Pollyanna, the daughter of missionaries, had expected a doll in the Christmas missionary barrel but nothing arrived except a set of crutches. Obviously, she was disappointed. But her father told... Read more
XVI. I THANK YOU GOD FOR THE WONDER OF MY BEING I praise you because I am fearfully [awesomely] and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. That I know well! (Psalm 139:14) When I was taking a course on spirituality at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation three decades ago, I learned a sung prayer, “I thank you God for the wonder of my being,” which we repeated three times at certain intervals in the class. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel... Read more
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