Good morning... Last week a church friend for over twenty-five years sent me the following article. At first reading, I loved it. Over time, I began to wrestled with it. Now I invite you into my soul-searching question, "What is church?" ****** Excerpt from When Church Is Not Bound by Four Walls posted on August 16th, 2020 If church [...]
Good morning... The photo above drew in my attention, so I included it in our post from yesterday, Grieving With God. The peaceful lake. The inviting hammock. The grey, hazy feel. The ripped up jeans. The silence, the solitude. The quiet passage of time needed for God to transform a grieving heart. To me, the photo spoke volumes [...]
Good morning... Amid the turmoil of a powerful pandemic, years of racial injustice, and economic and political upheaval, how are you and I to be the church when many church doors are closed? As the living body of Christ in our hurting world, where do we begin? Refreshing young artist Danielle Coke brings to life Fredrick Buechner's [...]
Good morning... Many of you have written to me about how much you miss church. We miss entering the beloved building. We miss worshipping and learning, socializing and serving together. We miss cozying up in the warmth of our timeless traditions and bonding as Christ's body with God and each other. Still many church doors remain closed as [...]
Good morning... "Here we go again?," she emailed after yesterday's post, Wow! "Do you still read Jesus Calling before you write or is this one of those God moments?" Hers was a really good question. Let me tell you the two most important reasons I adored her enlivening email. First, she took me back to where our daily blog began. [...]
Good morning... "Wow!" she texted before last night's incredible thunder-and-lightening-fest. "Have you seen this?" "'Wow!' is right," I replied. "How can words written through a person nearly eighty years ago speak so boldly to us right now? This creative expression can only be the eternal voice of our living Lord, who was, and is, and is [...]
Good morning... I am not the only one wrestling with this year's unique experience of heading "back to school." Children and teacher, parents and grandparents, caregivers and concerned folk everywhere are all wondering, "How do we do this school year well?" Earlier in the week, our church sent out a specialized prayer. Wherever we wake this Sunday morning, we come [...]
Good morning... Sunday may be the day that feels most different during this world wide pandemic. For many church-goers across the globe who are used to gathering face to face, close together, week by week, online worship has replaced onsite worship for this unusual period of time. Churches are now negotiating, "What will it look like to come [...]
Good morning... Sitting with two of his three siblings, I witnessed our youngest son get his high school diploma. Hidden beneath my mask, can you envision my proud-momma smile? It was certainly a memorable, one-of-a-kind celebration. Outside in the football stadium. Social distanced, wearing masks. 80% chance of rain earlier in the week turned to delightfully cloudy with [...]
Good morning... "Be Kind" was the title of yesterday's blog post. "Sue," she responded. "This is one of the most profound of all of your posts. It speaks into my unsettled heart. The one that has journaled just now about the chaos of our current time. The out of control acting out behavior running rampant in our country [...]
