LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   Psalm 27:1-4 The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?   When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes Came upon me to destroy my body, They stumbled and fell.   Though a host shall encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me; In this will I be confident.   One thing have I desired of the LORD, That will I seek; That I may dwell in t

Yesterday, we celebrated the life of a beloved member of the community. We can’t always control the path in life, but we can control the way we walk it. Yesterday, I was blessed to witness up close the loving choices made by family, friends, and community as they came together for the sole purpose of loving well by walking with the grieving family.   I watched as individuals came to help with the preparations, brought food to share, stood and visited with the family and frien

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   Philippians 2:6-11 Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but humbled himself and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name o

Yesterday afternoon as I was driving home, I turned a corner and activity in a nearby yard caught my eye. A young girl was jumping up and down in her front yard, clapping with joy. And then I spotted the man getting out of the truck in front of the house. He, too, was smiling quite broadly, as he closed his truck door and quickly walked to the sidewalk where the young girl ran to meet him. It made me smile. Joy is so contagious. I’d noticed the same phenomenon earlier that da

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   Ezekiel 37: 21-28 “And say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nation where they have gone and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all. And they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any longer. “Neither shall they defile

“Where were you?” I remember asking that question that night when I got home after midnight. I’d had a blow out of a tire on the interstate on the way home from speaking at a parish. When I’d tried to call home, there was no answer. I got help from my daughter, her husband, and AAA, but I still was so worried about why my husband hadn’t answered the phone. Come to find out, he was asleep and never heard it. The situation makes me think of times as a teen that I was late. That

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   John 10:31-42 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me?” The Jews answered him saying, “For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy because you, being a man, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered them. “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’ If He called them gods to whom the word of God came and

Yesterday afternoon I decided on chicken kiev for supper. I figured out when I’d put it in the oven and when to start the sides. I had my phone timer on for all the parts. And we sat down to eat at 5:30. We chatted about our day as we ate. Then my husband asked what I was planning for that evening. And I reminded him that I had faith formation class but then it hit me, it was a special night and instead of 7:15, the usual time, I was supposed to be there at 6. And he said, “W

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   Genesis 17:3-9 Abraham prostrated himself, and God spoke with him saying, “As for me, behold my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham because I have made you the father of many nations. And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you and kings shall come from your lineage. And I will establish my covenant between me and

One of the things I love about spring is the morning ritual. It doesn’t happen in the winter because the songbirds are wintering somewhere warmer than Wisconsin if they have any sense. But then in March they begin to return. And every morning, beginning 30 minutes before sunrise, they sing. It isn’t just any song; it is a song of true hope. It comes in the dark just before dawn and it comes from every direction. The birds sing their songs of praise because their hope prevails

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   Hebrews 10:4-10 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats will take away sin. Therefore, when He (Christ) came into the world, He said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You take no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come to do your will, O God.’” Above, when He said, “Sacrifice and offering and burn offerings and offerings for sin you want not.

I watched as she started to set the table. She put all the silverware on one side of the plate. I stepped in to help her. I said, “Let me show you an easy way to remember the right way to set a table. My daughter taught me.” She looked at me puzzled. So, I continued. “There are two sides to the plate, left and right. Now the word left has four letters. So does the word fork. The fork goes on the left. And the word right has five letters. Knife and spoon each have five letters

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   John 8:21-30 Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I go my way, and you shall seek me and shall die in your sins because where I go, you cannot come.” Then the Jews said, “Will he kill himself because he says ‘Where I go, you cannot come?’” Jesus said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I therefore said to you that you shall die in your sins because if you do not believe that I AM, you sh

As I started my new week yesterday, I did what I always do, I looked back at my past week and tried to glean the lessons I’d been too rushed to reap at the time. Between the weather swings, my broken water heater, and the nasty respiratory virus I’d picked up, my week had not gone as I had predicted or hoped. It was like watching a black and white episode of “Keystone Cops.”  But thankfully, I recognized in time the one immutable presence that was with me through it all…”Jesu

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   John 8:2-11 Early in the morning, Jesus came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. And he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Master, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that she should be stoned, but what do you say?” They said this to test him so they could

Monday was the blizzard, and I spent hours throughout the day trying to clear my porch of snow so I could sit outside as usual. Tuesday, I woke up with a horrible case of what we used to call “the crud.” It’s that upper respiratory virus that makes one cough so deeply it rattles one’s socks. That day my water heater also went out, so a warm soothing shower was out of the question. Wednesday the water heater repair man came and couldn’t fix the hot water heater and my cough wo

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   John 11:20-27 As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now whatever you ask God, God will give it to you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother shall rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and

This week, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day and I must admit that my mind frequently strayed to the Irish I have loved who are no longer with me this side of the sod: my father, my oldest sister, my two younger brothers, my precious grandson. And I found myself saying out loud to them because I do believe they live just beyond my sight, that I missed them. However, I used the French phrase that says it so much better: Tu me manques (you are missing from me).   You see, each of

LECTIO - Read Scripture Text:   Psalm 7:2a, 9-11 Oh LORD, my God, in You I put my trust. Let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, But establish the just, For the righteous God tries the heart and affections. My defense is God, Who saves the upright of heart.   MEDITATIO - Meditate on text, allow the LORD to touch us with His Word: “trust” – confide in the LORD, seek refuge, hope in the LORD.  “just” – righteous, right with God and right with one another. ORATIO – Lift

I haven’t been feeling well. It could have been my own fault. I prayed that others would be more generous and share and that I’d be more open to the gifts of others. It was my fault that I wasn’t more specific or at least included exceptions like germs. So, yesterday, as I struggled to get going, I went to the porch to look for signs of spring. I decided to walk around the porch’s inner perimeter and look for spring shoots, those spikes of green that tell me something below i