December 1/First Sunday of Advent “Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.” ~ Rom 13.11 “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. ~ Matt 24.44 The two-minute warning is a well-attested parenting technique for easing transitions…
Advent Reflections Start December 1!
The Advent season is a time of hopeful expectation, as we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child. Again this year, I will be offering daily Advent reflections by email. These brief reflections are accompanied by a prayer and a link to the day’s lectionary readings. The reflections will begin Sunday, December 1 and conclude on Christmas…
Song 40: Limbo
April 20/Holy Saturday I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence.You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. ~ Ps 16. 8, 9,…
Song 39: Handing Off
April 19/Good Friday Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O faithful God. ~ Ps 31.6 To put our bodies into the skilled hands of a surgeon or a physical therapist is an act of trust, and an admission that we do not possess the knowledge, the experience, the power to heal ourselves on our own. …
Song 38: My Cup Runneth Over
April 18/Holy Thursday I will lift up the cup of salvation, and will call on the name of the LORD. ~ Ps 116.13 On the eve of Christ’s painful, shameful death upon the cross, we are invited, paradoxically, to lift up the cup of salvation. Given the events that will unfold this night — the Last Supper with the disciples’…
Song 37: Flying Solo
April 17/Wednesday of Holy Week Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak, I looked for sympathy, but there was none; for consolers, not one could I find. I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. ~ Ps 69.21, 31 On a recent trip to Jerusalem, I was deeply moved by…
Song 36: Abide With Me
April 16/Tuesday of Holy Week For you are my hope, LORD God, my trust from my youth. ~ Ps 71.5 As I approach my (big number here) high school reunion, I have been thinking about the power and the blessing of longtime friendships. Something about a conversation with someone who has known me for decades — a grade-school friend with…
Song 35: Waiting for the World to Change
April 15/Monday of Holy Week The LORD is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear?. . . Wait for the LORD; be strong and stout-hearted. Wait for the LORD! ~ Ps 27.1, 14 Although it doesn’t always seem so, waiting is an inherently hopeful activity, as we anticipate or long for good things to come even as we endure…
Song 34: Weal and Woe
April 13/Fifth Saturday of Lent They shall come and sing aloud for joy on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,over the grain, the wine, and the oil, the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. ~ Jer. 31.12 When…
Song 33: S.O.S.
April 12/Fifth Friday of Lent Ropes of death encircled me; torrents of wickedness assailed me;Ropes of Sheol entangled me; snares of death confronted me.In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. ~ Ps 18.4-6 When my children were young,…