This week is Thanksgiving week. Things are different this year, really different. Yet, we still have much for which to be grateful. First, I am writing this, which means that I am breathing. You are reading this, which means that you are breathing. Sometimes, that’s all we have, breath. Sometimes, that’s all we need. With breath, we can do the rest. Second, there are three groups of people whose breath we have been relying upon since things shifted in this world. Those who …
First Things First
What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? If you are like most of us, it is reach for your phone. It’s is such a hard habit to break. We are attached to our smart devices like another body limb. For some of us, reaching for the phone has become as automatic as breathing. We do it without thinking about it. The next thing we know, 30 minutes or more have passed, and we are on our 10th cat video or news update. While the cat videos help smile, minute-by-minute …
The People Have Spoken. Now What?
Last week, our democracy and our patience were put to the test. Whether you watched things unfold minute-by-minute or checked the AP poll from time to time, we were living in another historic moment of an historic year. Now, the people have spoken. Now what? According to Micah 6:6-8, it is time to either continue or start the work of justice. This election was a down payment on a new home for democracy. However, the home has not been built. We build it by following the principles found in …
Plant Your Mustard Seed
It happened when Elisha told the widow to keep pouring the oil into the jars that she had collected from her neighbors. It happened when Shiphrah and Puah ignored Pharaoh’s genocidal executive order. It happened when the little boy gave up his lunch. All of these people did small things that had big results, demonstrating that little things really do matter. These people were planting mustard seeds. As Jesus reminds us in the parable, while a mustard seed is small, it becomes large …
Washing Feet
On yesterday, John 1:7 was read at the church service I attended. This is the scripture where Jesus was washed his disciples’ feet. Reading passage connected to a conversation I had last week with someone about washing feet. Today, the passage lingers, and I ask the question, how do we wash each other’s feet? It has been seven months since some of us have seen each other face-to-face. While some churches have chosen to meet in person, everyone I know is sitting at a computer or with a …
Goodbye Is in Order
In 2009, I started this blog because I wanted to encourage people in their faith and communicate God’s love to people. In the first two years, the blog went through several iterations, several different designs and several different hosting companies. In 2011, I finally settled on a hosting company, which became the home not only for my blog but for several other websites for family, friends, and two small churches. After that choice, I never looked back because the relationship with …
