Posts from 2020 (Page 5)

I Am Within the Psalm For many, including myself, the book of psalms has been a place of refuge. I’ve been fortunate to ride on the coattails of my friend and fellow pastor Brian Morgan, leading psalms retreats not only in our church but around the world. Although locations of these retreats constantly vary, the one thing that always remains the same in all the participants, is the discovery of God and self within the psalms. That continuing pattern is…

God is using our today to prepare us for tomorrow. Living in the present moment is difficult, and sometimes impossible. Our human tendency is to live either in the past, which is filled with both happy and painful memories, or plan for the future, which we have little control over. God reminds us, throughout scripture, that the present moment is where we should reside. I have found this challenging, if not impossible. My lifelong journey has been learning, and re-learning,…

Monday was a very windy day and my deodar cedar trees were blowing back and forth like crazy, the way the pandemic blows my thoughts to and fro.  The branches on my trees are flexible, bending dramatically up and down, side to side.  My mind bounces from one thing to another in similar fashion.  Interestingly, despite the trees’ branches waving ferociously, the trees’ trunks stay stable and keep the trees secure.  When my thoughts dart from one thing to another, I know I need…

This week we see Jesus go from one celebration (a wedding) to another (Passover). But while He was willing to remain a guest at the wedding, Jesus is not willing to remain a ‘guest’ at the temple. It is, as Jesus says, “My Father’s house”. So what happens when God, in the person of Jesus Christ, shows up to His house of worship to find it has been turned into a house of business? Come and see!

As we begin our eighth week of sheltering in place and maintaining social distance, there is an uncertainty as to how long it will last and even greater uncertainty as to how we tiptoe our way back safely into community once restrictions are lifted. Until a vaccine and/or cure is developed, I suspect most of us will feel uneasy about congregating at any level, for all it takes is encountering ONE person that is infected, and an entire community is…

What is your picture of God?  Before yesterday’s sermon, if you didn’t know where Jesus, God with us, began his public ministry, where would you have imagined him showing up first? It is generally agreed that the first few chapters of John happen before Mark 1:14. In other words, Jesus really does enter the public scene first at the wedding at Cana.  The curtains are drawn back, and we see the living God at a wedding, enjoying himself, enjoying the…

It is well known that I am the pastor shepherd over the music ministry at our church. I have the privilege of not only working with an incredible group of talented musicians, but also the joy of sharing life and music with them as well.  What may not be so well known is that I also work with their instruments too. With only a few exceptions, I have worked or repaired many at our church including my own. What started…

When I was a little girl, every summer my family and I would camp and hike.  I have very clear memories of me, the youngest of four kids, always trailing behind everyone else as we hiked.  I was always the first one to get tired, the first one to start complaining – I’m sure I drove everyone else crazy with irritation!  At one point in the trail, the road became much, much steeper (at least to my little legs) and every time I…

Words and alliteration are two of my favorite things.  During this pandemic we are having what I call COVID Conversations – we discuss what is hard about this time, what is good about it, what God seems to be doing, new things we’re doing and how we’re coping.  We laugh at how we need haircuts and hair color.  Since it seems I won’t be able to hide my gray much longer, I’m delighting in verses about gray hair and how God doesn’t desert…

Up until this point in John’s gospel, Jesus has been mostly moving around privately, gathering his team of followers.  This week, in chapter two, the curtains get drawn back, and God enters the public stage.  And, where does he make himself known first?  At a wedding celebration.  So, what happens when Jesus is invited to a wedding (or into anything in life)?  Come and see!