“See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone, flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.” I have always liked the verse from the Song of Songs which captures the hope and promise of the season. Of course, my mind […]
The Bible tells us that in “the fullness of time” Christ came to us. The implication is that Christ came when God decided that the time was right. It would seem that God has his own clock, which may not agree with our clocks. God decided when is the right time. I am enough of […]
Grace is one of the big words – it has so much packed into it that it can be hard to understand. You remember that Martin Luther used the word to identify the major disagreement he had with the church of his day – he kept trying to reform the church so that it made […]
Most protestant church members do not pay much attention to Lent. Officially, Lent is the 40 days (not counting Sundays) prior to Easter. Easter was the time when baptisms were done and those intending to be baptized were expected to spend the time in study and prayer in preparation for the big day. It came […]
There is the time it became clear; it was obvious: you loved her. You had not said so to her, you had not said it to anyone else, but you knew. Maybe it was when you first met, maybe it was when she knew what you were going to say before you said it, maybe […]
My brother loves to tell the story about his visit to a community where I once was the Interim Minister at the local congregational church. After he had seen the people he came to see, he stopped at the general store for a cup of coffee. After comparing notes about travel conditions and the latest […]
It’s that time of year. The trees are still beautiful, but the brightest days of autumn are past. The leaves are falling faster than my husband can blow them away. My perennial gardens have all been put to bed for the winter. Fire wood was delivered yesterday. A racoon has taken a big bite out […]
Dear Friends, The Reverend Dr. Gordon Crouch, the pastor of the church of which I am a member, once shared with us that he had attended a retreat at the Holy Cross Monastery in New York. At that retreat, he heard one of the monks compare Christian community to rock polishing, a hobby with which […]
Dear friends, As I travel from home to the church and back again, I find myself in awe over all that I see: the beauty of the flowers in many different colors, the lush green of the trees and lawns, an occasional animal scampering from place to place. When I arrive at the church, I […]
Dear Friends in Christ, I am enjoying my time here – getting acquainted with you, learning your names, and discovering where things are located in this building! Although it takes a while to put your trust in someone, I want to assure you that anything that you share with me in confidence will always remain […]