Claimed, gathered and sent

We don't know what to do or say in the midst of what seems like a world gone mad. As friends, neighbors and co-workers ask the question, "What is going on in our world,?" this statement by Bishop Hanson states it eloquently. April 16, 2007 ELCA Presiding Bishop's Statement on Virginia Tech Tragedy With the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) community and the nation, we mourn, we pray, and with the Psalmist we plead: "Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!" (Psalm 130:1) As family and friends grieve the deaths and injuries of loved ones, we claim the promise of Christ's Resurrection. Campus ministries, congregations and leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are offering support and spiritual care to the local community. Through the deep wounds of this tragedy, let us renew our resolve to live together in peace. "Holy One, you do not distance yourself from the pain of your people

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Henri Nouwen hit the nail on the head when he wrote this: Reading Spiritually About Spiritual Things Reading often means gathering information, acquiring new insight and knowledge, and mastering a new field. It can lead us to degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Spiritual reading, however, is different. It means not simply reading about spiritual things but also reading about spiritual things in a spiritual way. That requires a willingness not just to read but to be read, not just to master but to be mastered by words. As long as we read the Bible or a spiritual book simply to acquire knowledge, our reading does not help us in our spiritual lives. We can become very knowledgeable about spiritual matters without becoming truly spiritual people. As we read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be willing to put down the book we are reading and just listen to what God is saying to us through its words. Subscribe to Weekly Reflect

Easter is not just one day for the Christian or the church. In the Lutheran tradition, Easter is 50 days, until Pentecost. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Take a look at this meditation from Bonhoeffer. This is how we live the life, realizing we are all simultaneously saints and sinners. The Pious Community "Confess your sins to one another" (James 5:16). Those who remain alone with their evil are left utterly alone. It is possible that Christians may remain lonely in spite of daily worship together, prayer together, and all their community through service - that the final breakthrough to community does not occur precisely because they enjoy community with one another as pious believers, but not with one another as those lacking piety, as sinners. For the pious community permits no one to be a sinner. Hence all have to conceal their sins from themselves and from the community. We are not allowed to be sinners. Many Christians would be unimaginably horrified if

It was a marvelous Easter celebration this past Sunday. It was one of the wonderful times where everything comes together just right: the music, the word, the worship and fellowship. Throughout the day Ray and I kept marveling at what a special day it had been. But when all is said and done, borrowing a phrase from Pastor Paul's sermon, I must ask, "So what!" It's not just about the warm fuzzies of family, music and worship. What we celebrated Sunday is the linchpin of our Christian faith. " And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (I Cor 15:17). The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us in our daily lives. It's no myth. It's reality. As Peter wrote, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Pet 1:16). Christ is risen! He is risen i

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This says it all... God in Our Midst Now in Jesus Christ this is just what has happened. The image of God has entered our midst, in the form of our fallen life, in the likeness of sinful flesh. In the teaching and acts of Christ, in his life and death, the image of God is revealed. In him the divine image has been re-created on earth. The Incarnation, the words and acts of Jesus, his death on the cross, are all indispensable parts of that image. But it is not the same image as Adam bore in the primal glory of paradise. Rather, it is the image of one who enters a world of sin and death, who takes upon himself all the sorrows of humanity, who meekly bears God's wrath and judgment against sinners, and obeys God's will with unswerving devotion in suffering and death, the man born to poverty, the friend of publicans and sinners, the man of sorrows, rejected by people and forsaken of God. Here is God made human, here is the human in the new image of God. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer - from