1 Timothy 2:1-7 I have been asked recently to think about prayer. Our presbytery is beginning a program called Vital Congregations, and in preparation, I was asked to contribute my thoughts on prayer resources, practices, and such. But one of the questions in particular has kept me thinking for days. That is, how has my thinking about prayer changed over time? The assumption, of course, is that it has changed. This is true. No longer are my prayers as they were in childhood. When I was young, I was taught, as so many of us were, to recite short little rhyming prayers – at the dinner table, at bedtime. We might learn to make up our own prayers within certain frameworks – like thank you, God, for lemonade and hula hoops; and God bless mama, daddy, and Tatters the dog. But with maturity comes more freedom and responsibility in all […]
Continue readingMonth: September 2022
RE: imagine Regret
1 Timothy 1:12-17 What do you say when someone asks you if you have any regrets? Some people will say no. I regret nothing, as Edith Piaf famously sang. But is it really true? When someone asks you if you have any regrets, it feels like they are asking, “Will you tell us about your failures?” But I don’t really want to talk about my failures, do you? Really, though, don’t you have some regrets? If pressed for an answer, you may be tempted to turn it around and make it about someone else, such as, I regret that my kids haven’t turned out the way I wanted them to. Or I regret that the people I have tried to help have not been willing to accept that help. Making it all about someone else’s failures. Not helpful. There is an organization called Failure Lab, which describes itself as being […]
Continue readingRE:concile Relationships
Philemon I have boxes and drawers filled with piles of letters. Some of them may not be worth keeping, but for others there is no doubt. For example, I have a couple of letters my mother received from her father when she was in college. His words of encouragement to her are a part of our family story that we cherish. If letter-writing is a lost art, that would be a tragedy. Because even though they are set in particular times and circumstances, the subjects of letters are often timeless. I am so glad my mother saved those letters from her father, making them a part of our story. And I am so glad the church saved this letter from Paul because it is an important part of our story. Unlike most of his letters, this is one that sounds almost like a letter we would write. It is not […]
Continue readingYour Place
Luke 14:1,7-14 There is a book called The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois, a remarkable story about slavery and race in America through the centuries. Near the end of the story, an elderly man, Uncle Root, explains to his young niece why he took his wife’s name when they were married in the mid-20th century, instead of asking her to take his name. Born at the beginning of the 20th century, Uncle Root lived for most of his life on the plantation where his ancestors had been enslaved. And during that long period of slavery, it was not uncommon for the master of the house, and other white men, to take advantage of the powerlessness of the enslaved. It was known that many enslaved children were fathered by the master of the house, although they would never be able to call him father. And often these individuals were given the family name of […]
Continue readingSome Kind of Order
Luke 13:10-17 One day years ago, over coffee, a friend and I came up with a youth ministry program that we thought might be great. It would use music as a means of gathering kids together, but the method would be to let them self-organize. We were thinking about all the kids we knew who were in bands, or who aspired to be in a band, and would love to have a place where they could gather together and play around with their music. These kids were at a vulnerable stage, trying to figure out who they were. A safe, stable, and caring community that encouraged and affirmed them in their creative endeavors was what they needed, we firmly believed. Neither my friend nor I was a musician, but we were hoping we could just provide the safe place to gather and the freedom to play and learn from each […]
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