The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness--on them light has shined. Isaiah 9. 1 - 4 Winter Storm Fern is bearing down on 40 states in my country, reaching across about 2300 miles, affecting about 245 million people. At this point on Sunday morning, 230,000 to 300,000 people are without power. I slept with a battery powered lantern by my bed last night, made my coffee and put it in the fridge and have a headlamp in

...but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." John 4. 1 - 15 There is a park down the street from me with a small lake and a fountain in the middle. Most of the year the water flows from the fountain and fills the lake. (see below) But this time of year, a layer of ice and snow covers the lake, and yet the fountain still flows. The water gushes up

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 14 I have a friend at church who, at the end of every meeting, raises his hands as Jesus did and says "May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always." We are all so prepared for him to do this that we follow along, hands raised reciting this beautiful verse with him. Last

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening. 1 Samuel 3. 19 - 20 The story of Samuel and Eli at the beginning of 1 Samuel has always interested me, particularly when I am pondering the Trinity, God three in one, Creator,Redeemer, Sustainer. What or who was it that called Samuel? Not the incarnate God - Jesus Redeemer and probably not God Creator, but I do believe it was the Holy Spirit, God

"This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3. 13 - 17 On this Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, we hear words come down from heaven which we all long to hear..."my son, my daughter the beloved." I believe that hearing these words, knowing this truth could make a tremendous difference in the course of the world. Some of the most egregious acts by men and women in the history have been done by people who did not know their belovedness. I also believe

A friend commented about the egregious nature of our world right now and how difficult it is to find hope in the horror of the actions of people and presidents... "There is a gaping hole in me, and the light, wonder and revelation of Epiphany are hard to feel right now, she said." Sigh...so sadly true. And yet, Paul's letter to the people of Colossae this morning gives us hope in the face of these difficult times. We hear the reassurance that God chose to make known the rich

but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence . 1 Kings 19. 9 - 18 In his search for the Lord, Elijah heard God say go stand on the mountain and wait for the Lord to pass by...and so he did. But he didn't find God in the wind or the earthquake or the fire...only in the "sheer silence" which translates in Hebrew as a deep, profound, or absolute quiet. A wise woman once said that eloquent was a good translation for sheer, and ever since I hear

This poem by Thomas Hardy is the perfect one for New Year's Eve. I usually offer it every year as a reminder that there is always hope. Written on New Year's Eve 1899, as the world faced impending wars and a century of tumult and catastrophe, Hardy, like many other poets and philosophers, feared what lay ahead. But in this bleak poem, Hardy allows a glimmer of hope to which we too can hold. Listen this day for the voice of the darkling thrush in your part of the world and sha

"...an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’" Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 In eight short verses in the gospel of Matthew, Joseph has three dreams which guide him to make major changes for him and his family. First the angel of the Lord tells him to leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt, then from Egypt to Israel,

And so he was born, this gloriously impossible baby, in a stable in Bethlehem...God come to be one of us. from The Glorious Impossible by Madeleine L'Engle. In a cave or a stable, the Son of Man was born to a poor young girl and her beloved husband with whom she had never had marital relations. All of us who have given birth know what this means...what it looks like and how it feels. The risk of sanitizing this birth is great, because it was hardly a decent place or way f