Check Out Our Fall Classes
Good morning... Summertime for me is a very different season. At Northside Church, I work only eight hours each week for June and July, attending a monthly meeting for Pastors and Directors, responding to texts and emails each day, and keeping my commitment to walk/talk through life with the women connected to our vibrant ministry. On August 1st, when I walked into the church to prepare for the fall season, I was greeted [...]
All Day, I Feel The Throbbing
Good morning... I love meeting short poems who, very simply, speak God's truth. ****** Sympathetic Resonance by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer All day, I feel the throbbing of other lives, other pain, as if I’m a string on the piano that goes unplayed, and yet vibrates when the hammer strikes other strings, and then— your ache, my ache, two strings, one song. ****** The sympathetic resonance playing music among us is, very simply, the [...]
The Moon Is Always Round
Good morning... "Hi Sue," she wrote yesterday, "I received this devotional sometime early in the pandemic and have saved it. It reminds me of your post this morning, Trusting Without Seeing." ****** Excerpt from The Moon Is Round by Sylvia Gunter In times of crisis trust is a powerful weapon. I define trust as assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, and truth of God. When troubles come, we can ground ourselves in the [...]
Trusting Without Seeing
Good morning... In the midst of my deep prayer time, the Spirit invites me to step outside, onto our back porch. Serenaded by cicadas, I snap a picture of the full moon hiding behind layers of lush tree limbs. Strangely, the tone of light in the dark of this night makes the setting feel surreal. Weird. Unusual. Kinda dream-like. I guess this snapshot of the outer world mysteriously mirrors the way I feel [...]
Steve Invites Us Into Egypt
Good morning... Over the years, several of us have traveled in small groups to Israel with my husband, Rev. Steve Allen, talented trip leader and head chaplain at The Lovett School. The experiences have been breath-taking, eye-opening, life-changing. Many more of us have enjoyed vicariously our blog posts from the Holy Land, year after year, during the spring Lenten season. Steve now invites us all into a new adventure. Egypt, anyone? "The faith [...]
Deeply Dreaming Of Our Wedding
Good morning... Arriving home from my time away, I opened the invitation to our oldest son's wedding. I savored the handmade beauty. I took the picture above and texted it to our daughter-in-love-to-be, letting her know how much I appreciate her tender loving care with every little detail. I also shared the photo and gratitude with her mom, who is putting so much kind work into wedding preparations with her husband. Such joy [...]
From Fear-Driven To Love-Drawn
Good morning... I have been praying really deeply for loved ones who are facing excruciating challenges. Praying for the promised power of God to rise up and buoy, to strengthen and empower. Many of you have been joining me on this quest, seeking to pray into existence the power of God on behalf of our loved ones. Yesterday, a praying friend sent me a morning meditation which put fresh words to the gift [...]
We Live Our Hard Questions
Good morning... The prophet Isaiah does not stop at just two questions in Chapter 40 of his book in the Bible, like we identified in yesterday's post. Isaiah actually fills the page with a plethora of question marks. Let's revisit this ancient wisdom, as we deepen into God's definitive answer to the hard questions in life. Who measured the oceans in the palm of his hand? Who used his hand to measure the [...]
What Did Isaiah Ask?
Good morning... Ending yesterday's blog post, one sentence from the Scripture verse returns to me during the dark hours of this new night. "Isaiah’s question, 'Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?' has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit," says 1 Corinthians 2:16 (ERV). My mind now wonders quietly, "In the book of Isaiah, what question was actually asked?" Flipping back to [...]
Do You Smell These Fireworks?
Good morning... Fireworks are fun, fascinating, fantastic. All of my senses wake up as I look at this photo, taken twenty-one days ago on the 4th of July beside the tiny Pennsylvania lake where Steve's family has vacationed annually for over a hundred years. Can you sense the booming sound, the sulfury smell, the spectacular sight, the exciting "oooh" and "aaah" of it all? To do this complex thing, our brains need to [...]
Our Innermost Senses
Good morning... In a recent blog post, we identified five of our innermost senses, senses which partner with the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us each day. Intuition. Imagination. Perception. Will. Reason. One reader wrote: "The human brain and our DNA as God made it is more powerful than any machine. A machine only knows what you can input into it. A human brain - well it can tap into [...]
Struggle Is Everyone’s Normal
Good morning... "Sue," wrote a friend from our Monday afternoon study group, which is quietly off for the summer months. "Such a wonderful message from Kate Bowler this week! Hope your summer is going well and the much anticipated wedding arriving so soon! Happy days to you!" I touch on the link she shared and breathe in the empathy born through life's everyday struggles. Right now, I share with you the gift, thinking, [...]