As Holy Week and Easter approach, I realize that church life might look different next year. As some of you know, our denomination, The United Methodist Church, has been discerning its future for a long time. Our denomination goes back to the life and teachings of...
This month we move into the season of Lent. Lent is a season of spiritual preparation that leads to Holy Week and Easter. Lent is forty days and forty nights that recalls Jesus’s surrender and retreat into the desert. Whereas Easter rejoices in the resurrected...
One word that has been on my mind, and probably all of our minds, is “Perseverance.” We have seen the need to persevere during the pandemic, derecho, economic uncertainty, and hiring challenges in the workplace. Perseverance is often defined as a continued...
Ernest Hemingway once said, “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” Regrettably, our society has become increasingly distracted, inclined to multitask, and not willing to give full attention to the matter at hand. We have not become good...
My favorite holiday movie is “Miracle on 34th Street.” I love the older version of the film from 1947 as well as the newer one from 1994. There’s something about this movie that gets me in the right mood this time of year. Most of us have a favorite holiday movie,...
Many of us learned how to pray during our childhood years. We were taught to put our hands together before a meal, bedtime, and or a big decision to make. We learned that prayer is talking to God. And of course, we could talk to God anytime we want. We could pray to...
