This Wednesday is a long way from Ash Wednesday. From “Marked by Ashes” by Walter Brueggemann(click here to read the full poem) Dear Friends, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ  (Philippians 1:2).”  These opening words from Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one in a list of sentences of Scripture […]

…Easter us to joy and energy and courage and freedom; Easter us that we may be fearless for your truth. Come here and Easter our Wednesday with mercy and justice and peace and generosity. We pray as we wait for the Risen One who comes soon. from “Marked by Ashes” by Walter Brueggemann(click here to read the full poem) Dear Friends, […]

… we begin this day with that taste of ash in our mouth: of failed hope and broken promises, of forgotten children and frightened women, we ourselves are ashes to ashes, dust to dust; we can taste our mortality as we roll the ash around on our tongues.We are able to ponder our ashness with some confidence, only because our every […]

This Wednesday burdens us with the tasks of the day, for we are already halfway home halfway back to committees and memos, halfway back to calls and appointments, halfway on to next Sunday,halfway back, half frazzled, half expectant,half turned toward you, half rather not. From “Marked by Ashes” by Walter Brueggemann (click here to read the full poem) Dear Friends, […]

Dear Friends, This day – a gift from you. This is the second line in the poem, “Marked by Ashes” by Walter Brueggemann (click here to read it), the one we are revisiting and reflecting from week-to-week this Lent. This line follows the poem’s opening, an address to God as the “Ruler of the Night, Guarantor of […]

Dear Friends,A coworker and friend from my consulting days recently sent me this text:  On the way to church this morning…there is a Baptist church that has a message board out front. Usually, they are very funny. This morning’s laugh: “Some people should use a glue stick instead of Chapstick. Just a thought.” I laughed so […]

Dear Friends, Remember last Wednesday, 23 February when the high temperature of the day was 74 degrees? It was so good! Some places nearby got to 77 degrees! The warmth of that sun! A mere twenty-four hours later (24 hours!) the high temperature was 39 degrees. The shift from the season of Epiphany on Sunday to Ash […]

Beloved Epiphany friends– Only a little longer to wait, just three more days, and then it will be Christmas. We will celebrate the great gift our Heavenly Father has given us, his son, Jesus Christ. Your patience has been rewarded: the nativity of Jesus is upon us. The very idea of it stretches beyond our […]

Beloved Epiphany friends– Almost there, right? Ten more days until Christmas Day. Can you picture in your mind what that morning will be like? For those with children at home, it will be an early morning, with the little ones running to see what Santa has brought. For those of us who can only vaguely remember […]

Beloved Epiphany friends– What do you get when you get everything you want right this instant? No chance to feel the thrill of anticipation, and that’s a shame. Children might well be annoyed with having to wait for the presents they will receive. Someone who’s expecting that they will be asked to married may get […]