This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Walk in love, as Christ loved us, and gave himself an offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 2, is a sentence often recited at the offertory. (Offertory is not, as some think, the collection of money in a worship […]
First reading and Psalm• 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a• Psalm 42 and 43 Second reading• Galatians 3:23-29 Gospel• Luke 8:26-39
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” See “discernment.” Vocation is, etymologically speaking, one’s calling. The term comes from the Latin vocatio, a “call” or “summons,” and has been used in Christianity for centuries to describe one discerning their call from God towards a particular way of life, in religious […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” My daughter and I were walking through the terminal to our gate and I was thinking, as I always do, that perhaps I needed a snack. I suddenly stopped, looked up and around and asked, “What airport are we in?” Every airport […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Trust is the “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something; confidence or faith in a person or thing, or in an attribute of a person or thing.” So says the Oxford English Dictionary. While time is […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Saints, for many Protestants, are a concept that is foreign, associated with the Catholic Church, candles, and idolatry. Certainly, that is the image that I grew up with, yet as I came to understand the Bible and the history of the Church […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Restore, regard, redemption, resurrection, repair, respite…again and again we find the prefix “re” in English. From the Latin re, it is an inseparable prefix meaning “back” or “again.” Even a moment’s reflection reveals why we find it so often in our language. […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Quail. God sent quail. (Or quails, both are acceptable for the plural.) When the Israelites needed sustenance on their journey in the wilderness, God sent quail and manna. No one is quite sure exactly what manna was, it could very likely be […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Patience; I don’t have much of it. At least it doesn’t feel that way to me. I have been told by some that they think I am extremely patient and careful, taking my time with people and projects to wait for the […]
A reflection for Easter Sunday from Emil Brunner, Eternal Hope, (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954). “But it is putting things the wrong way round to assert, as has been recently done, that the faith in the resurrection is ‘nothing other than faith in the Cross as a saving event’ (4). The […]