Good morning... This morning, I am privileged to preach at the little Log Cabin Church up the street. For their annual homecoming service, the congregation invites a community member to speak, and this year it's me. This friendly, vibrant church has a rich, 107 year history, so this morning we will come home to these guiding questions: "Where have [...]
Good morning... Earlier this week our post, Welcome To Our Messy Home, stepped on a common nerve. One of you wrote: "I'm so glad that you took a picture of your Messy House. My mom has told me for years how much that I will miss a messy house, loads of laundry, shoes left all over the place, [...]
Good morning... "It's bittersweet," my heart thinks as I quietly put away the mugs, the teas, the snack bowls that have rested regularly on our foyer table, welcoming women into our home week after week. "It is bittersweet to end another winter/spring season of learning." Yes, my schedule will breathe a little more freely and, yes, I will [...]
Good morning... "Supposed to be nearing 80-degrees today, so our 4:00 pm lacrosse game will be a scorcher!" yesterday I texted my parents and sister who each live in small towns near Cleveland, Ohio. "Enjoy your Saturday. What are you all up to?" "Track meet got rained out today and it's supposed to snow tomorrow," my sister replied. [...]
Good morning... We sat in a small, sacred circle, ranging from one-hundred-and-one years old, through ninety-eighty-seventy-somethings, to fifty-five year old me. Our soulful speaker, a dear friend of mine, read aloud wisdom from Richard Rohr: "Poetry gives you resonance more than logical proof, and resonance is much more healing and integrating." He continued reading Rohr in his slow, [...]
Good morning... As I held the soft hands of 91 year old Betty Skinner, she said something like this, "Sue, I really love this season in my life. There is little I need to do each day. I have many hours to pray, to read, to commune with God. This is a sweet, sweet season. But I must tell [...]
Good morning... Since Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight utilize images of water repeatedly, I googled, "What does water symbolize?" I discovered a fascinating quote. "Most often, water represents cleansing, life, and freedom. Water is a contextual symbol in (art and) literature...it can symbolize many things depending on how it is used in a novel or a story (or [...]
Good morning... Today I will enjoy the privilege of talking with the Preschool Prayer Moms at Northside Church. The organizer said, "I think it would be fun for you to talk about the movie Groundhog Day and liken it to our never-ending days as preschool moms, adding a scripture to encourage us along." "What an awesome idea!" My mind [...]
Good morning... In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus' closest friends fell asleep. His request of them had been clear, "Please stay awake while I pray." Yet they fell asleep again and again. Instead of an angry reprimand, with grace in his voice Jesus spoke understanding, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41b, NIV). This sentence [...]
Good morning... Okay. So God did it again. Surround-sound is the Spirit's specialty. At 2:59 am, I posted yesterday's message highlighting the various seasons of life found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Then at 5:04 am, Henri Nouwen's 12.3.16 meditation arrived in my computer's inbox. Nouwen's words continue the Spirit's revelation: "There comes a time in all our lives when we [...]
