Claimed, gathered and sent

I don't know how many of you are followers of the show "Glee." We got hooked on it during the summer after reading our friends' Facebook posts about it. It's about a group of kids in a high school glee club. In many ways, some would be misfits, but in glee club, they've found a family of sorts. Tuesday night's episode was theologically profound--exploring issues of unanswered prayer, feelings of exclusion from the church community because of sexual orientation, and the possible death of a loved one. Where was God in all of this? This episode will even be viewed and then discussed at my seminary. Here is the link to the show. It will make you think. I suspect that from this one episode, a number of pastors have found plenty of sermon illustrations. Grilled Cheesus

We may have our plans and schedules, but then there are God's. Internship continues to be simultaneously a delight and challenge. My supervisor has been called upon by the bishop to be involved on a part time basis helping out a nearby church. This increases my preaching responsibilities. I imagine there will be other additional duties as well. This is exciting and at the same time makes me cry out to God for wisdom and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. My husband, Ray, and I are football fans. The analogy that immediately came to mind was that of  a backup quarterback in football. My supervisor would be the starting quarterback. Only he needs to spend some time leading a different team. I am being called upon to step up and lead the Grace Lutheran team in a greater measure. Of course, this is what daily ministry consists of. We have one idea of how the line up will look, but God has another. God's will and plans for Grace and this other church are good....

Sometimes, it's just like God keeps hitting us over the head to get a message through. Well, today's lesson is the same one I've been hearing over and over and over--look for God in the places you don't expect to find God. Last night it was Pizza Hut. Ray's hair was getting a little longer than he likes it, so we decided to go to the barber shop today. We went in and sat down. There were 3 people ahead of Ray, so we were there a while before it was Ray's turn. I noticed that the music playing in the background was Christian music (Southern Gospel), which I thought was interesting. When it was Ray's turn to get into the chair, he introduced himself and then me as the intern at Grace Lutheran Church. The barber, Duke, brightened right up and said he was a retired Methodist preacher! He added that we would have an interesting conversation. That we did. Duke told us the story of his call at age 30 and the difference Christ has made in his life. He rela...

Henri Nouwen is one of my favorite devotional writers. He had a way of communicating deep truths in such simple, profound, and beautiful language. The Most Human and Most Divine Gesture The two disciples whom Jesus joined on the road to Emmaus recognised him in the breaking of the bread. What is a more common, ordinary gesture than breaking bread? It may be the most human of all human gestures: a gesture of hospitality, friendship, care, and the desire to be together. Taking a loaf of bread, blessing it, breaking it, and giving it to those seated around the table signifies unity, community, and peace. When Jesus does this he does the most ordinary as well as the most extraordinary. It is the most human as well as the most divine gesture. The great mystery is that this daily and most human gesture is the way we recognise the presence of Christ among us. God becomes most present when we are most human. Share your thoughts on this reflection. These reflections...

Throughout the past two years of seminary, we have been challenged to "think theologically." And sometimes one can't help but wonder how that really plays out in daily life. I like to think that I go through my day with an open heart and ears to the needs of those around me, to what God is saying, and to what I should/should not say or do. Sometimes God just wants me to listen to what someone is going through and not try to fix it. And it is so very tempting to try to fix things in people's lives. That's not always our job though. This is not to say that we ignore the needs of those around us. God help us if we do that.  My supervisor told me that at the end of each day he goes back over it, examining it theologically. What it boils down to for him is where did he see God throughout the day? That is what it means to think theologically. Where is God? Pr. Larry, my supervisor, keeps reminding me that we know where we expect to find God: church, in the fellow...

To Seek Beauty: Introduction What we do not nourish within ourselves cannot exist in the world around us because we are its microcosm. We cannot moan the loss of quality in our world and not ourselves seed the beautiful in our wake. We cannot decry the loss of the spiritual and continue ourselves to function only on the level of the vulgar. We cannot hope for fullness of life without nurturing fullness of soul. We must seek beauty, study beauty surround ourselves with beauty. To be contemplative we must remove the clutter of our lives, surround ourselves with beauty, and consciously, relentlessly, persistently give it away until the tiny world for which we are responsible begins to reflect the raw beauty that is God. –from Illuminated Life by Joan Chittister (Orbis)

Last week felt like fall. It was in the air with the cooler days. We had to wear sweaters to enjoy our patio on those mornings. This week however is quite another story. It's been in the 90s nearly every day. Today it reached 97 degrees. As the seasons and the weather change, so do the seasons of our lives. For the past couple of weeks I have been struggling with fatigue--even when I've had a quiet and peaceful day off and plenty of sleep. I couldn't tell if I was coming down with something or what was going on. I'd make a few calls, do a little visitation and my energy was sapped. I knew it couldn't be my thyroid because I was taking my thyroid medicine. Well, it seems that thyroid levels ebb and flow also and now I'm on a higher dose of medicine. This all leads up to the time I had with my spiritual director this week. I was frustrated that during the times of extreme fatigue, I seemed to accomplish very little. My spiritual director reminded me that those...