You know, it’s usually a fact of normal life: You smile at someone; they smile back. You call a friend on the phone and they answer (or you leave a message and they call you back shortly). You call your spouse’s name from the living room; he says, “What?” wherever he is. Call and response […]
Read more "Call and Response"So how are you holding up in your part of the world right now? Depending on where we are in life, depending on who we’ve got at home right now, depending on what we are used to doing on the average day, the current stay-at-home orders in place for our state may be affecting us […]
Read more "In Deeper Reverence, Praise"When Mary headed to the tomb so early that first Easter morning, she was heartsick and despairing. Everything was bad. Everything was lost. Her hope had been destroyed. She had seen terrible things over the last few days, heartbreaking things that must have shaken her faith in humanity and robbed her of any belief that […]
Read more "We Rise"This is the second of two reflections offered in the Good Friday service yesterday at Hancock Health. As a people of prayer, we know it to be true that prayer changes things. Prayer changes things in mighty and sometimes surprising ways. On our prayer chain at church we have so many stories of illnesses healed, […]
Read more "Prayers of Intercession"Yesterday at Hancock Health I had the blessing of participating in a virtual Good Friday service we offered for our community, knowing that many, many people this Holy Week will be unable to go out and attend services as they normally would. Here I want to share the first of two reflections I offered in […]
Read more "Pause for a Breath"Yesterday morning early, Janice sent me two pictures of the back of the church, where the spring flowers are in bloom. It was such a hopeful start to the day! The hyacinths, the daffodils, they are just doing what they do, on their own natural timeframe, blooming into beauty in their own natural time, […]
Read more "Spring Anyway"Can you remember the New Year’s resolutions you made at the start of the new year? No? Me neither. What I do remember is that things were going along normally. Life for me was a regular pattern of work and rest; days spent at hospice, afternoon walk with Gloria on sunny days, and preparing […]
Read more "Interrupted by Grace"NEW!! Listen to the message here: Once upon a time there was a little girl named Esther who had had a rough start in life. She was born into a Jewish family, a descendant of those who had been captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and carried away into a life of exile and service. When Esther […]
Read more "Remembering Esther"Today’s Friendly Reflection for Lent could not be more perfect for the situation we find ourselves in today! Here is the full quote, from early Friend John Woolman: The place of prayer is a precious habitation: … I saw this habitation to be safe, to be inwardly quiet, when there was great stirrings and commotions […]
Read more "Morning thought: Wednesday"The reflection on our Lenten Reflection calendar this morning is from George Fox’s writings: “Be still and cool in thy own mind and spirit.” This seems to be especially inspired counsel in a time such as ours. (When I created this calendar, I had no idea what we were heading into.) The longer quote is […]
Read more "Morning thought: Tuesday"