Good morning... In yesterday's post We Experience Epiphany, I shared the spiritual practice of choosing a star word to guide us into the new year. Journalist Marissa Hermanson explains, "Star words are given out to the congregation in early January on Epiphany Sunday as a way of remembering the story of the Magi following the star to find [...]
Good morning... On January 6th, on the twelfth day of Christmas, Epiphany is celebrated annually. Epiphany commemorates the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child and the revelation of God the Son experienced as a human being. We read the story at church on Sunday. As I revisit Matthew 2:1-12, here are the verses that stand out [...]
Good morning... I met a poem this weekend that whispered to me about the consistency of life, year by year by year. Our high hopes are laid to rest in the soil of our common ground, and the low lows are lifted up as fodder for our creative connection. ****** "This was the year that was not the [...]
Good morning... This week, a friend from our Sunday afternoon group sent us a prayer written by Howard Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981). We, as a group, read Thurman's influential book Jesus and the Disinherited a few semesters back. Howard Thurman's theology of radical nonviolence has shaped the faith life of generations, and he was [...]
Good morning... As the first light of the new year crept through the slots in our bathroom shutters, I sensed the moon growing pregnant with full potential. Sure enough. The Wolf Supermoon (Wolf named for howling wolves in winter and Supermoon because it coincides with the Moon's closest point to Earth, appearing larger and brighter) will occur on [...]
Good morning... My favorite Christmas song reached me when Steve and I were newlyweds. The acapella group Glad harmonized the meaning of that first Christmas morn with their song In the First Light. This special song was produced in 1988, when I was 25 years old. Enjoy these lyrics before experiencing this powerful song. In the first light [...]
Good morning... Christmas Eve offers magical moments. When and where might you worship? I invite you to join us at Northside Church, with FIVE worship opportunities on Christmas Eve. The Nativity Animals will join us outside from 9:30AM to 4:30PM. Wednesday, December 24 10:00AM | Family Service in the Sanctuary* 12:00PM | Family Service in the Sanctuary 2:00PM [...]
Good morning... This week we received handwritten envelops, one for Steve and me as well as one addressed personally to each of our four kids and our daughter-in-law. At ages 88 and 87, my parents are still sending out Christmas cards. Pretty amazing, right? I took this photo as I visited with them in Ohio earlier this month. [...]
Good morning... What should be easy, is hard. What usually takes no time, is taking forever. What I often take for granted, is not happening right now. Plagued by continued computer issues, my communication is halted. No emails have come into my inbox since 12/19. Ugh. Unable to share new photos, I went back to this old image [...]
Good morning... Last night was the final New Moon of the year. Dark. Dark. Dark. For three straight nights we experience great darkness. Tomorrow night is the winter solstice, marking the exact moment when half of Earth is tilted the farthest away from the sun. This God-ordered, natural phenomenon creates the shortest day, the day with the least [...]
