“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” starts Psalm 107. The readings for today talk about the goodness and power of God. Let us cry out to the Lord in our distress, and he shall respond to us with his unfailing love. But it’s not without bumps in the road. Let’s look at the passage in Exodus. Short
It troubles me to write about what appears to be a trinity of disparate passages and yet how much they run parallel to my own life right now. After living 37 years in NYC, I’m moving to the southern climate of Atlanta. I feel the love/hate of my walk in the wilderness of my life up to the present — perhaps like both Moses
“A plan for the fullness of time.” This is one of my favorite parts of today’s passage in Ephesians, because it points to a different soteriology than we usually hear from the dominant Christian voices in the public square right now.
I work in the public library. One of our posters reads: Everyone is welcome here …translated into a colorful series of different languages. Everyone who has come from all over the world to New York, and the library, is welcome; job seekers, new parents, English learners. The library is a safe space. Everyone is welcome. Every question is welcome: from how to fill out
Every time I read that Christ was sacrificed to take away my sins, it stirs up feelings of guilt. It’s a knee-jerk reaction, a feeling of overwhelming indebtedness to someone who has done something for me that I can never possibly repay. Then again, Jesus’ ministry wasn’t really about making people feel guilty. It was about love and acceptance and grace freely given, even
I am a doorkeeper every Friday at church from 12 to 1. So I can identify with this 10th verse of Psalm 84. Each Friday I welcome visitors at the front door of the church. They are from France, Italy, Germany, Brooklyn or the neighborhood. They are all looking for something — a beautiful church, spiritual comfort, or simply a place to sit and warm up and use their iPhones.
My thoughts continue to return to the physical transfiguration and the “dazzling white, whiter than anyone could bleach them” describing Jesus, his clothes and his appearance to the disciples. My focus on this white may come from the snowfalls we have had at the time of this writing and how pure and clean our city becomes when newly fallen snow blankets the usual gray sidewalks and roadways.
In Psalm 19, God’s creativity is at the forefront, describing in several analogies the endless possibilities that exist through God. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth. Whatever opportunties we are given, we are reminded that the law of the Lord is perfect. As such, we need
When we sang O Little Town of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve I was reminded that it was written by Phillips Brooks. I knew he had been an important member of the clergy in Boston, but not much more. I happened upon Brooks again reading a sermon on Psalm 19 which included a reference to his friendship with Helen Keller. (I further discovered Ascension’s fourth
John 12 has been a selection that I have read repeatedly in a variety of Bibles over the years and thought that I could lay low until I was spiritually more mature. Earlier in Chapter 11, Jesus has brought Lazarus back to life and many Jews witnessed this miracle and believed Jesus. “Many Jews among the leaders, believed in Him, but confessed that they