I recently stumbled on a website that had 23 funny tombstones. Unlike the made-up kind, these were things that people had actually carved on tombstones. They were pretty funny. They reminded me of my favorite tombstone, Ruth Graham’s grave: “End of Construction. Thank you for your patience.” I admire people who are so bold. Most …
From Worship Experiences
Reading Scripture in New Ways
I am always looking for new ways of reading scripture. I love to read the Bible and have read the whole thing many times. But sometimes it starts sounding all the same. Read that, remember that, boring! The Bible is anything but boring and I want to be sure I’m reading it with attention and …
Flock of Robins Caring for Each Other
The other day I was walking the loop trail in Char-Mar Ridge Park and saw a flock of robins. There were about 60 of them on the ground and in the trees. I couldn’t remember ever seeing so many robins at one time. Later Tom and I googled the behavior of robins. Robins are somewhat …
Adjust Your Attitude and Change Your World
Do you need to adjust your attitude? Over the last four years I have seen so many hateful things – many of them coming from people who profess to be Christians. Personal attacks, calls for armed insurrection. Attacks on people of both parties who are our elected leaders. Attacks like this make me sad because …
National Revival Requires Humility and Prayer
Our country needs a time of national revival. I was shocked, as I’m sure you were, by the attack on the Capitol Building on Wednesday, January 6. I wasn’t happy with the results of the national election in 2016 but it never occurred to me to try to overthrow the government because of it. Even …
Ring the Bells of Praise to God
We are just through the Christmas season and I’ve been thinking about bells. Have you noticed how many Christmas songs have bells in them? “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” “Jingle Bells.” “Carol of the Bells.” “Come On, Ring Those Bells.” These are just a few of the songs with bells in the titles. …
Grace-Full in the New Year
Do you have a resolution for 2021? I am going to be more grace-full. I have never been a particularly graceful person, despite being born on a Tuesday (“Tuesday’s child is full of grace”) but maybe the rhyme was talking about extending the grace of God to others. That is what I want to do …
Merry Little Christmas
How was your Christmas? This year we had a merry little Christmas, with the emphasis on little. Most of the things I consider Christmas traditions went by the wayside. I didn’t even attend a Christmas Eve service in person. Tom and I watched three of them online, but it just isn’t the same, no matter …
One Size Fits All With Jesus
Have you ever ordered anything “one size fits all?” Did it fit? I must be an odd size because nothing like that ever fits me. Even when things come in sizes, I often have a hard time getting the right size, especially when it is a gift. For instance, I ordered a really cute sweatshirt …
Give Him an Inch and He Will Take an Ell
Have you ever heard the expression “Give him an inch and he will take an ell”? I had not. I am more familiar with the American expression “give him an inch and he will take a mile.” I ran across the expression in a chapter of C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity.” An ell is an old …