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It’s easy to have preconceived notions about people, and not really see them. We do it all the time. In fact, our brains are wired to make quick assessments of people and situations for our safety. How someone is dressed may determine whether we smile or avert our eyes. The color of a person’s skin or their accent can lead us to jump to conclusions about what he or she is like. We also do it with people we know very well. We assume that we know their thoughts and motives. At this point we stop actually seeing the person, and instead are see...
We are in a season of change for many people. Some have graduated, some are entering into their summer break. Parents are sending their sons and daughters to college or into full-time work. Friends are saying goodbye. Children will shift from their school year routine to being home more or in summer activities. The wheat will soon be harvested. In the Presbyterian Church we celebrate Pentecost this Sunday, remembering when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples after the ascension of Jesus. It was a time of tremendous change for the...
I believe there is great wisdom in the liturgical church calendar, giving us times of joyful celebration and hope as well as somber reflection and repentance. The liturgical seasons honor both light and dark, and that is wise because it reflects the reality of human life. It is not all joy and happiness – there is darkness and pain. We have seasons and services that allow us to honor the pain in each of our lives and in the lives of every person on this globe. Presbyterians, and several other denominations, begin the season of Lent, the walk wi...
In our culture many people experience a post-holiday crash. Some are exhausted from parties and hosting family from out of town. Some are sad to see the empty place where the light of the Christmas tree glowed. Some are trying to get back on a reasonable eating plan after the indulgence of the holidays, while others are already weary of the New Year’s resolution they made but can’t quite seem to keep. What do we have to look forward to as these winter months stretch out before us? Valentine’s Day candy and décor already fill the store aisles. E...
I’ve been thinking a lot about love recently. Last week the lectionary text was Matthew 22:34-46, where Jesus teaches that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and that the second is like it, to love our neighbors as ourselves. To love God and others is the foundation of what it is to be Christian. I have also been thinking a lot about my grandmother. She is one of the people who taught me about what it means to love. She enjoyed dressing up for Halloween right up until the end of her 95 years here on E...
This Sunday, churches around the globe will celebrate World Communion Sunday to promote Christian unity and ecumenical cooperation. It is a time to remember what we have in common and how we can work together to care for one another. Though many churches disagree on points of theology and worship, we can all agree that Jesus has commanded us to love God with our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). So many are in need of love right now. People here in Alva struggle to make ends meet, suffer...
To be known deeply by another is both beautiful and terrifying. I believe we all long to be seen, to be understood, to really be known. Yet it is such a vulnerable act to reveal our truest and deepest selves to another. There is always risk of being judged or rejected, laughed at or dismissed. So we often play the game of revealing and concealing, opening and then closing our hearts, showing up and then hiding once again. Psalm 139 has long been one of my favorites. “O God, you have searched me and known me!” cries the psalmist. In bea...
