Luke 24: 13-49 There are forty days of Lent. If you observe the Christian calendar, you have just completed walking through this rich and challenging season. Perhaps you gave up something, or added a spiritual discipline in order to align yourself more with the story and journey of Christ to the cross and into the…
guest post by Bill Lewis Sometimes my burden seems difficult and following Jesus seems so heavy. I should go to church, probably be in a discipleship group, serve in a ministry and give abundantly out of my sometimes meager income. Is God capricious and difficult to follow? All of this seems so overwhelming that I…
Many of us are receiving ashes on our foreheads today, reminding us of our sin and fragility; and more importantly, of our desire to descend to death with Christ during the season of Lent, that we may somehow “attain the resurrection of the dead.” We often find ourselves thrust into liturgical seasons in the midst…
Thanksgiving is the language of heaven, and we had better start to learn it if we are not to be mere dumb aliens there. ~ A. J. Gossip, Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology at the University of Glasgow When I first met my husband, we were in seminary, which made for many precarious…
There’s just something about transition. The city pool closed this week, and when I promised my son a snowcone after his first day back at preschool, we pulled up to discover that they had shut down for the season, as well. But it’s still hot outside. Some splashing in the water and a cool sweet…
As I’m writing the note, a dozen things are clamoring for my attention. Each seems important and probably needs to be done, whether meeting with a friend, editing a writing project, or weeding the garden. When pressured like this, up to now, my inclination is to speed up and try to get everything done extra…
I am sitting quietly, at the end of a busy day, on Good Friday evening. Part of me wonders – did I miss it? Did I miss Lent? This year, my personal progression through the journey of Christ has been a different one. A few years back, I graduated from seminary and departed from a…
My name is Heather Holba and as a Certified Spiritual Director, my ministry is all about helping others find God in their everyday moments, every day. I’m passionate about working with people who seek a deeper spiritual connection with their Creator. I love spending time in prayer and personally appreciate the benefits of a strong,…
Welcome to this week’s edition of Lingering Leaves – our most memorable posts from around the web. This week: lowering expectations in marriage, non-traditional students in higher ed, Jewish school in Germany, Islam in America, and “making space.” The Church Tim Keller, psychologists, the New York Times, and marital expectations – a nice post from…
Many of our congregations marked the Baptism of Christ this Sunday. Whether your congregation engaged this event or not, you might like to do so now through a practice called Visio Divina. “While Lectio Divina is a method of praying with scripture, Visio Divina (Latin for “divine seeing”) is a method for praying with images…
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