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Loving Your Neighbor When You Don’t Like People
By Vanessa Rasanen People are idiots. There, I said it. There are the morons who couldn’t be bothered to actually read my writing before commenting……. you have the time to write a scathing comment accusing me of taking my children to dive bars where they aren’t allowed, but you couldn’t take the five minutes to read where I specifically say we don’t do that? Awesome. Then there are the people who take your position on one thing and twist it into meaning something completely psycho — because of course, my wanting a big family must mean I look down on people who don’t have children or don’t want a big family, too… obviously my desire…
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The Night Will Soon Be Ending
By Emily Cook The glitter of Christmas has a way of highlighting the brokenness of the world for me. When Christmas is about the merely material side of things, it is as if the world gathers to string lights on platitudes and empty hopes, or to put frosting on a rotting cookie. I see the emptiness of the platitudes, the rottenness of the gifts the world offers. Mere Christmas lights are not bright enough to truly pierce the darkness of this broken place, of our aching hearts. And yet, we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we sing: The night will soon be ending; the dawn cannot…
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Memories Outdone By Truth
By Debra-Lynn Swearingen Memories of you from photographs faded streams of light they form my recollection and I close my eyes real tight I can almost hear your voice and see you standing near lingering in the moment forgetting you’re not here Memories are so fickle rushing from joy to sorrow happiness etched in minutes no promised earthly tomorrow But O’ how I return to yesterday and long for times gone by lingering in days of yore an old familiar cry So I wonder if memory is gift or a curse? The past is better than it was reality—all the worse For here I am without you no wishing’ll bring you…
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Talking Sheep: The Role of Laity in the Church
By Vanessa Rasanen I’ve never been known for my tact. I rarely say the right thing, and even when I do I usually say it in the completely wrong way. Perhaps it would be better to remedy this problem by keeping my trap shut and learning to be quiet, but instead I’m learning when to speak up and how. This is an important skill to develop, too, as it can benefit our jobs, our families, our communities, and even our church. Yes, even our church, and even as laity. We laity are a great asset to our church, though we may not always recognize that. This is perhaps more true…
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Comfort, yes, comfort My people; tell her that her iniquity is pardoned!
By Mary Abrahamson “Comfort, comfort ye my people, Speak ye peace,” thus saith our God. “Comfort those who sit in darkness, Mourning ‘neath their sorrow’s load. Speak ye to Jerusalem Of the peace that waits for them; Tell her that her sins I cover, And her warfare now is over. Yea, her sins our God will pardon, Blotting out each dark misdeed; All that well deserved His anger He no more will see or heed. She hath suffered many a day; Now her griefs have passed away. God will change her pining sadness Into ever-springing gladness. Hark the herald’s voice is crying In the desert far and near, Bidding all…
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To the New pastor’s wife
By Holly Scheer Finishing seminary and getting ready to move the your husband’s first church is an exciting and sometimes scary time. You might end up in a setting that is near family and friends and familiar… or in a place that is totally unfamiliar and new, where you know no one and the culture is different than yours. Since our marriage my husband has gone from field work at a church in Ft Wayne, to a vicarage a short drive from Chicago, to far northern and rural Minnesota, now to Wyoming. Each of these churches has been wildly different in location and size. And each has been a very…
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My Dirty Secret
By Allison Hull “Wow, the table looks really nice, Mom! Who’s coming over?” “I don’t want to clean my room! Are kids or just adults coming to the house?” My husband and I joke about these comments that have been made but in reality, I only do big cleaning projects when company is coming over. It’s my secret fear, that someone will see how we really live and judge us. Of course, it was super easy when we lived in an apartment with only a baby around. He even helped when he got older. I pondered why all these moms complained when it was a sweep, mop, dust done kind…
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On Advent Hymnody
By Elisabeth Urtel Savior, Show Thy Power and Glory Yea, amen! Let all adore Thee, High on Thine eternal throne; Savior, take the power and glory, Claim the kingdom for Thine own. The above quotes the last verse of “Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending,” a 1758 Charles Wesley hymn cherished especially in the Anglican tradition, imparted to Lutherans through modern English hymnals. Residing in either the Advent or End Times piece of your service book, it may be used to teach several facets of the resurrection and second coming of Christ. However, understanding this part correctly is crucial to preserving the personal union. In singing “Savior, take Thy power…
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Advent and Discipline
By Amanda Markel It seems people are talking about New Year’s resolutions before the Christmas wrapping paper has been cleaned up (if not sooner). There’s something about the start of a new year that inspires people to make a fresh start, to try something new, to improve something about themselves. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions (how many of them are still kept by the time you get to spring?), but I do think focusing on some new disciplines at the beginning a new church year church year is a great practice. The first Sunday in Advent has ushered in that new church year…have you considered how…
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A Few Thoughts on Expectations and Disappointments
By Mary Abrahamson The trouble with others (and ourselves)… is that we are all sinful humans bumbling through a sinful world Have you ever been deeply disappointed or hurt by something someone did or said to you? Or even simply by how events played out? I know I have. And I also know that I’ve been the cause of disappointment for others. Parents. Teachers. Friends. Husband. In-laws. Perhaps sometimes the members of my husband’s churches. And even my own children. We all have been disappointed. We all disappoint. In my own life, I have noticed three primary sources of such disappointments. Firstly, I tend to place my trust on…
