Claimed, gathered and sent

One of the opportunities we have during our senior year of seminary is to preach in chapel. Today it was my turn. The scripture passage was Luke 6:27-38.             Our campus is alive with expectation. In 24 days, seniors called to the ministry of Word and Sacrament will receive regional assignments. Graduation for all seniors is a mere 101 days away, not that anyone is counting. We cannot help but wonder where we will land. Middlers, in just a few weeks you will be going through the marathon of internship matching, affectionately called “speed dating” with all its excitement and anxiety. And you juniors are looking forward to completing your first year of seminary and embarking upon the world of CPE. How do you feel about that?             Today’s scripture passage is taken from Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain as Luke's gospel calls it. Just as our regional, internship, a...

  I love the movie Driving Miss Daisy . The main characters are a feisty older lady who is no longer able to drive and a man her son hired to be her chauffeur. It is a movie full of lessons about racism and classism and love and respect. On July 5, 2011, I had ankle surgery on my right foot and was therefore unable to drive. I kept thinking and hoping that perhaps the next week, after the next visit to the doctor, I would be cleared to drive. That however, was not the case. This did not happen until this past Thursday. And today was the first time I have driven since the surgery.  Now for most families this would present an inconvenience, but the other family members would pick up the driving responsibilities. However, my husband is blind and unable to drive. I am the driver in our family. Things that we previously took for granted, like quick runs to the store, doctor's appointments, going to church all became things for which we had to coordinate times and people'...