Claimed, gathered and sent

Thank you Liz. This says it all. journalling: The things he carried - The amazing love of God

Tonight I participated in the most moving Maundy Thursday service ever. This is something the Lutheran and Presbyterian churches in Petersburg do together. We sang and prayed and read scripture and heard God's Word proclaimed...then the foot washing. Every Maundy Thursday service I have been to until tonight, needed "plants" in the congregation--those few people who agree ahead of time to go forward for foot washing in hopes of convincing others to do so as well. It always feels awkward and a bit contrived. Tonight, you could barely keep people away. No one was asked ahead of time to come forward first. The spirit in which Pastors Cantu and Cardot washed each one's feet was noteworthy as well. Neither was using a particular formulaic blessing or prayer, but each was blessing the congregants by name and in relationship to who they were. All were known and were accordingly blessed. It was impossible to hold back the tears. There was a mix of humble service and such h

Holy Saturday is probably my favorite part of the Holy Week liturgy. This is a nice article I came across. Hope you enjoy it. Holy Saturday: The Space Between

The text I’m preaching from is Matthew chapter 21 which was read in the processional liturgy.             Jesus is coming into Jerusalem. Something new is in the air. This could really change everything. How many of us have experienced an event like that in our lives—whether it be a new job, graduating from school, getting married, having a child, retiring…the list goes on. I don’t know about you, but when there’s something exciting on the horizon in my life, I fantasize about it. I imagine just how it will be. I can’t wait for the occasion to take place.             Let me give you an example. When Ray and I first got married, I thought when he retired; we’d just ride off into the sunset together and live happily ever after. That just sounded great. I couldn’t imagine anything much better than that.             Those were my plans. But God had other ideas. Ray did retire in 2008. We rode off into the sunset but we only got as far as Gettysburg. And I started attending a seminary. An

Titanic-sized Unanswered Prayer | Ben Unseth's Red-Letter Ideas

Titanic-sized Unanswered Prayer | Ben Unseth's Red-Letter Ideas