Beginning at the End

Happy New Year! Today is the first day of Advent, the beginning of a new year in the church calendar.  We have spent the last six months in what the church calls “ordinary time,” that long period between Pentecost, which is 50 days after Easter, and the First...

Just Another Pagoda

Today is the last Sunday in the season of  Pentecost, the longest season of the church year. At one time the church referred to the season of Pentecost as “ordinary” time. From May through the end of November there are no big festivals or celebrations on the...

Light in the Darkness 

I was about 10 years old when psychic Jean Dixon predicted the exact date of the end of the world. Somehow in those days before the internet and social media the news of this impending doom raced through our fifth grade classroom, both exciting and...

Always Room for Forgiveness

Today is All Saints’ Day, one of the major feast days of the Church, and one of my favorite Sundays of the year. This first Sunday in November is the day that we remember the saints of the church — all of them, those who have their own day on the church...

Unfinished Business

For the last two months our Old Testament readings have been following the story of Moses and the people of Israel as they journey through the wilderness to the land that God first promised to Abraham and Sarah long, long ago. When the story begins, the Israelites are...

They Are No More

“A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” These words from the prophet Jeremiah are not in the scripture readings appointed for...

The Hard Work of Forgiving

This weekend is a special time for our Jewish brothers and sisters. At sunset Friday they began celebrating Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashana is not a one-day celebration. It is the beginning of Judaism’s High Holy Days, which end with Yom Kippur,...

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