“I love the Christmas season; it’s Christmas Day I hate.” So said one of the youth in our congregation. An interesting statement, and one that perhaps others of us might echo.   There is something amazing about this season, when we focus on and celebrate love and generousity and joy. Not knowing the actual date of Jesus’ birth, the early Christians chose the time of the Winter Solstice, the season with the longest nights and shortest amount of daylight, to celebrate the coming of Jesus, the Light of the World.   One can easily imagine how profound the celebration of Christ’s...

What is hope? And how do we teach hope to our children? Both of these are challenging questions. Let’s start with defining hope!   The dictionary definition of ‘hope’ speaks of anticipation and desire, and wanting something to happen. However, if we speak of ‘hope’ from a faith perspective, it is something more. The hope of which we speak is not like writing a wish list for our birthdays or a letter to Santa and then desiring or expecting to receive at least some of what was on the list.   Hope, within the Christian faith, goes much deeper. It is...

What is truth? Now that’s an interesting, if not difficult, question in today’s society. Then there is the word “fact,” which should be something that is provable and demonstrable, but again we see the questioning of facts, even in the face of evidence. Fact and opinion used to be opposites, but now it seems that there has become more and more of a fluidity between the two. We have people who, if they do not like a particular fact, declare it as fake. Somehow I always thought that fake and fact were opposites – but it seems, at least to some...

What is love? Talk about an over-used word in our society. We can love a car. We can love a child. We can love a cookie. We can love a friend. We declare, “Oh, I love that dishwasher.” But also declare to another person, “I love you.”   This one little word has so many uses that its meaning has become diluted, I believe. While expressing such a precious feeling on one hand – the love of another human being, it also is used to express desire for something really quite inconsequential, such as a cookie or a car or a...

What is grace? That’s not a word that is used much in our society. We might use “graceful,” meaning someone who moves gently, with a fluid, pleasing elegance. But “grace” – now that is a church word. So what do we mean by it?   Grace is one of the most profound words in the Christian vocabulary. What it means is to freely offer unconditional love. Unconditional! No strings attached! Nothing demanded! Nothing expected! No thought of repayment! Unearned, unexpected, unmerited! Doesn’t matter what the person on the receiving end has done, what their attitude is like, or how they respond....

What is faith? Quick, don’t ponder, just respond. What is the first thing that you would say when asked to define “faith?” Actually, I suspect that most of us had no quick reaction, and responded with “uhhh, well..” I’ve lived and worked in the area of faith for about 30 years now, and I still couldn’t give a quick answer. If you go to the dictionary, faith is associated with words such as trust, belief, confidence, and loyalty, and these are directed toward a person, God, or religion. Yet, somehow that doesn’t begin to capture the role that faith plays in...

It’s almost summer time. I remember the fun of anticipating summer as a child. What, of all the possibilities, would I choose to do with my days? I was a farm kid so between laying hens in the barn year-round and roasting/frying hens to be raised, butchered and sold over the summer, and garden & crops to be planted and harvested, we rarely took summer vacations. I remember only one in my whole childhood.   But that was just life on the farm and I knew that there was a great deal of fun to be had right there where I...

Slow down the reactions.                     Take time to breathe, notice and laugh.   Slow down the accumulation.             Take time for gratitude and gift-giving.   Slow down the fear.                              Take time to celebrate.   Slow down the solutions.                     Take time to listen.   Slow down the entertainment.            Take time to be restless and bored.   Slow down the virtual.                         Take time for nature.   Slow down the drive to achieve.         Take time for relationship and community.   Slow down the structured activities.  Take time to play.   Slow down the pace.                             Take time for Sabbath,...

You have to have faith in something. The truth is that we all have faith. The question is where, or in who, do we place that faith. Some might have faith in themselves and their own abilities. Some might place their faith in money and what it can do for them. Others might place their faith in education or a successful job. One could place faith in science or in government or in one’s family. Some might say that their only faith is that the world is going to destroy itself and that people are motivated by nothing but greed. I...

Waiting. Watching. Praying. That is what Holy Week is about. I just can’t bring myself to do anything that is celebratory or fun on these days, especially on Good Friday. Even if the sun is shining, Good Friday always seems a somber day to me.   It may be called “Good” – which is actually derived from “God’s” Friday, in the same way that “God be with you” became “good-bye.” But though it is called “good,” God’s Friday always feels just like that – a day that I need to give to God, in worship, in prayer, in waiting.   But then...