Doug Pagitt makes an interesting comment on his blog regarding the tyranny of the holiday season in influencing our thoughts on Jesus ( PAGITTblog), that is after he finishes his rant on phone messages. Doug suggests that the emphasis by churches on the high holy days of Christmas and Easter limits our focus in such […]
Heading Toward All Saints Those of us who live in the more traditional, liturgical tradition are anticipating our All Saints worship this weekend. My personal tradition in the congregations that I serve is to observe All Saint’s on the Sunday following the 1st. This Sunday, we’ll be gathering for communion and remembering those in our […]
It’s amazing how quickly 10 days can go by. Oy!
I suppose I ought to move out of my rut in writing about dancing, but it clears the brain, so I will go on. Why is faith like dance? Obviously, there are some interesting parallels between the church and contra dance groups. But beyond that, I think the faith life intersects with Contra Dancing in […]
Back to the dance theme. Every dance is led by a caller (or callers) who selects the dances for the evening, teaches the dances, and then prompts (calls) during the first few rounds of music. The caller is most always an accomplished dancer who has a good sense of time. The natural sense of time […]
Well, it went right back to church stuff. How interesting.
Some day I’ll get around to ordering the ad-free version of blogspot. Actually, I’ve tried, but their ordering system always seems to be down for upgrading. Anyway, I’m getting a kick out of the customized ads sponsored by Google. The software analyzes key words in my posts and then tailors ads based on what I’m […]
It’s almost 4 p.m. on Saturday, and I’m looking for any excuse to keep from putting the sermon on paper. I’m using the Mark passage for the week, about who is the greatest in the kingdom. I think I struggle with this text because Jesus is so explicit in his teaching. Human understandings of power […]
Dance Continued The contra dance group that I was a part of (and still consider myself a part of even though I don’t go) was a highly relational group. Contra dance (sometimes known as country dance) is designed to encourage a broad variety of relationships rather than focusing on a narrow group. For most dances, […]
If you read my previous post, you should have seen a story about one of my first experiences with our contra dance group here in Nashville. This group became a significant part of our lives — easily as important sometimes as the church. While it’s too late to draw lengthy comparisons between the church and […]
It’s late (for me, anyway). I’m tired. Girl bedtime wrestling has taken a lot out of me. So I won’t write for long. Since the last post, I’ve sat in the hospital during my wife’s surgery for 24 hours, while she waited for a bed. I have something I wrote during that time that I […]
Well, as always, I’ve been negligent in writing for a while. However looking over my friends Rudy’s and Tim’s blogs has given me new inspiration and perhaps I can get some things on paper . . . uh . . . well, in electrons. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the contra dance community […]
Well I never got around to sharing about Jesus’ sending of the 12 — too many things going on as we prepare to move on Saturday! This week, I’m looking at Acts Chapter 2. The description of the community of believers at the end of Acts 2 has been idealized by church leaders for centuries. […]
You know, when I wrote last night, I was thinking that I was preaching Sunday on Acts 2. Unfortunately, that’s next week. This coming Sunday is focused instead on the sending of the 12 by Jesus. I have always been struck by the fact that Jesus sent the 12 without any visible resources. They were […]
This week we will be thinking about Christian practices. More specifically, we will be looking at the practices of the early church as described in Acts to think about the formative practices for communities of faith today. I find that I like to talk about spiritual practices rather than spiritual disciplines (an important concept from […]
A blink of the eye, and nine days have passed without notice. Such is the reality of life today. Yet, is that truly reality, or an illusion of busyness which leads me to miss my daily time of reflection and prayer. What does it mean to think and live differently in our world today? How […]
A couple of busy days have kept me from writing. I have to get ready for our Leadership Retreat in a half hou, but need to reflect a bit. Joan Chittister quotes the Tao in her commentary on The Rule of St. Benedict. The Tao says, “We join spokes together in a wheel, but it […]
Psalm 29 (continued) One thing to remember about the storm is that the Psalmist portrays God as being fully present in that activity. The storm is fierce. The storm is dangerous. The storm brings damage to the creation. Yet, God is the mover of the storm, the one whose voice thunders and who breaks the […]
Psalm 29 Suhocki (The Upper Room Disciplines) writes that the Psalm uses descriptive language to paint a picture of a fierce storm. This storm is not the gentle rain that nourishes the storm. This is a stom that uproots trees, with thunder and lightening, that is (as Peterson translates it) tympanic and symphonic. However, She […]
Journaling has never come easy to me. Yet, I know that the practice of journaling is a great discipline of the Spirit and that I can benefit from reflecting on where God is leading me today. Journaling in blog form will (I hope as least) lead me to a greater level of accountability. It also […]
only wonder understands