Monday, December 23 Luke 1:26-38 No Wind at the window (STS 11) https://youtu.be/_AY2lKWCUD8?si=0U9TNpfjKOXarAxr Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” ~Luke 1:38 In the culture surrounding the writing of this text, it was not at all uncommon for gods of other religions… Continue reading An Angel Visits Mary
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Advent 4 (Love, Angels)
Sunday, December 22 through Tuesday, December 24 In this week of advent, as we light a candle for Love and for Angels, we turn toward the scenes and characters of these familiar stories. In the last few days leading up to Christmas, we find ourselves visited by angels and witnessing a meaningful family visit. As… Continue reading Advent 4 (Love, Angels)
Advent 3 (Joy, Shepherds)
Sunday, December 15 through Saturday, December 21 As we light the third candle, this time the pink candle symbolizing joy, we are also lighting the candle in honor of the shepherds, ordinary working folks leading ordinary lives, yet chosen to get a first glimpse of the Divine come down to earth. Now that we have… Continue reading Advent 3 (Joy, Shepherds)
Advent 2 (Peace, Bethlehem)
Sunday, December 8 through Saturday, December 14 As we light the second candle in the advent wreath this Sunday, we light it to symbolize Peace and Bethlehem. Having heard the already-but-not-yet proclamations of hope and prophecy, what are we to do in this time? How do we engage, set the scene, claim the peace that… Continue reading Advent 2 (Peace, Bethlehem)
Advent 1 (Hope, Prophecy)
Sunday, December 1 through Saturday, December 7 The advent wreath is a folk tradition, and no one is exactly sure of its origin. Depending on the variant, the candles we light each Sunday have different meanings, either hope/peace/joy/love or prophets/Bethlehem/angels/shepherds. I like to play with the order of the themes a little so that I… Continue reading Advent 1 (Hope, Prophecy)
Advent Devotional
I wrote this year's Church of the Brethren advent devotional. You can find more information here, including the link for where to purchase it, and links for the Spotify and YouTube playlists: https://www.brethren.org/messenger/playlists/playlist-advent-devotional/ I have created extra introductions to each week, meant to be used on Sundays to tie the themes of the weeks together… Continue reading Advent Devotional
Train trips and transitions
I am transitioning in my ministry career from full time chaplaincy at Timbercrest Senior Living Community to being full time District Executive Minister for the south/central Indiana district of the Church of the Brethren. I don't see as much discontinuity between those two roles as many folks have expressed... realities of compassion fatigue, transition, loss,… Continue reading Train trips and transitions
Explore the website!
Hello, lovely people. I wanted to let you know that I have transitioned this blog into a fuller website for my spiritual direction and SoulCollage® practice. Please take some time to explore, and let me know if you have questions or interest. Also, after a long hiatus from posting, I intend to be using this… Continue reading Explore the website!
Blast from the past
Hi, folks. I apologize if you are one of the people who get emails about this blog -- you just got a bunch of them! I discovered that my old blog was in the process of disappearing but that I could still access the admin site. So I decided to transfer all 90 posts over… Continue reading Blast from the past
Seen and Loved
When the posture of shame tempts us to close in on ourselves, we can find the courage to reach for Jesus and one another. When we offer ourselves to Jesus, warts and all, we will hear him say “I see you and I love you.” We will sense Jesus inviting us to stand tall, free and open to all the beauty life has to offer.
StarPilgrim Studio 