“For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.” 1 John 3:20
“The Aramaic word ‘shbag’ has been translated into the English word ‘forgive,’ but it actually has a much deeper and richer meaning than our Western concept of forgiveness.
Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Neko Linda: Shbag
We are made in God’s image, male and female. So says God in the first creation story in the book of Genesis.
Do we also make God in our image?
Maybe even more than we realize. The Biblical image of God seems two-faced: sometimes faithful, forgiving, peace-filled, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love – just as we are in our best moments.
At other times, God seems just as petty, jealous, violent and destructive as we can be.
Made in God’s image – that can be downright worrisome.
Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Rev. Angie Wright: Will the real God please stand up?
On the bottom of my meditation bench I have taped a Buddhist saying:
“WHAT IS THE MOST MIRACULOUS OF ALL MIRACLES?
THAT I SIT QUIETLY BY MYSELF.”
I think most of us have had the experience that when it comes time to meditate we are so unsettled in our spirit and distracted in our minds that we say to ourselves: “There’s no point meditating now. I’m a mess. I’ll wait until I feel more at peace.”
The problem is that this peace we are seeking eludes us until we find ourselves in bed at night and realize that we never made it to the meditation bench. I’ve done this a million times myself. It’s almost as if I feel I’m not worthy to meditate. I should be in a better state of mind before I start.
Continue reading Beloved Lenten Reflection from Palmer Maxwell: Be still
Snowed and iced in on “my” mountain left me with an opportunity, by necessity, to create a different routine.
My seven outside rescued cats were a bit, um, confused by their diet of grits. Although my friends and I had a chuckle from this; it soon became a deeper lesson. Because many in this world would be happy to have a bowl of grits.
I had yeast, flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon, raisins- oh those rolls were wonderful. I had heat. I had clean well water. I had electricity providing light and hot water on demand. I had cooking ability. What I did not have were my regular vices!
Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Susan Proctor: Everything but the Truth
So, it’s about 1967 and I’m a teenager playing a record on the stereo in our living room, and I say to my dad, “I love this record!” He listens for a minute and then says, “You mean you’d sacrifice for it?”
It turned out that love is not primarily a feeling, and despite misinformation from the entertainment industry, love does not always begin as a feeling. It’s in fact a commitment larger than ourselves.
I bring this up in light of Jesus’ telling us to “love our enemies.” In theory this is my commitment, but recently this ideal has hit a snag.
Mob mentalities like that of the “so-called Islamic State,” Boko Haram, etc. seem to be an “enemy” that is hard to “feel” love for, let alone “sacrifice” for. Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Davey Williams: Sacrifice
When Bob Dylan recorded “My Back Pages” for the album ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN he was transitioning from folk artist to folk artist critic with his own career and his own songs directly in the cross-hairs of that critique.
The next album, BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME, revealed a much more nuanced and mature understanding of human nature and the role of protest. These albums and others that followed went from being protest songs of injustices in world events to protest songs about conformity to false images and ideals of self, beginning with the his own role of being the “spokesperson of his generation.”
Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Palmer Maxwell: “I was so much older then”
The title of this reflection comes from The Four Quartets by the American poet T.S. Eliot. Midway through the season of Lent—intended I think to be a period of reflection and prayer on the deeper meaning of our faith and the Easter event—I find instead that my mental state resembles more accurately the description Eliot had of modern life.
And each distraction carries its own passport and identification number marked “Priority 1” and stamped in large letters: A.S.A.P.!!!!
Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Palmer Maxwell: Distracted from Distraction by Distraction
Last week, several of our Beloveds traveled to Selma along with members of First Congregational Church, Pilgrim Church and Covenant UCC to commemorate the Bloody Sunday Bridge Crossing. Here are some of our reflections.
“As a white women, being in Selma was like reconnecting a bridge between the ignorance that has been my black history lessons, and the reality of 50 years ago. Bloody Sunday is the point of contact for that bridge – a moment in history which embodies so starkly the experience of so many black folks in America for too many years, and too many years which linger into the present.
Continue reading Lenten Reflections: On the Bridge
THE BEATITUDES
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
-Matthew 5
Continue reading Beloved Lenten Reflection from Cindy Jones: Goodbye
Dear Lord,
Mom and Dad and I call on YOU because you are our Keeper. I love you mom and dad because you taught us the meaning of commitment, justice, respect and how to love each other when you did not understand what the words meant. But you knew Jesus was in the midst of all that good feeling, all that coming together and caring for the people in the entire community not just family folks.
You taught us what it meant to be present, to show up if you are going to do Jesus’ work. We had to be present, at Church and in the house. There was no skipping out. Everybody had to be there for the meal in order to rejoice in the outcome. Celebration was for everybody in the house and beyond. Each one had to do her/his part.
Continue reading Lenten Reflection from Mary Jones: Our Prayer
