I’m Kinda Over Getting Told to Throw My Hands Up in the Air

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I’m Kinda Over Getting Told to Throw My Hands Up in the Air

What an image of leadership – Moses so visibly present on the hill with his hands raised and two of his community members on either side offering support. It seems like a lot of us could benefit from this kind of leadership, especially during these times of transition. We’re no longer what we have been, but we don’t know what we’re becoming. How will we get through this? How are our leaders leading, and how do we support each other as community? And where is God in all this?

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Troubled Is My Heart’s Default Setting

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Troubled Is My Heart’s Default Setting

I’m working to not let my heart be troubled or afraid, but even if that’s my default, I don’t have to maintain that setting today. I can modify it. And God is always at work in me, rewriting the code that I can’t even decipher and changing my settings from troubled to peace.

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A Parade, a Kiss, a Conviction, and a Cross

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A Parade, a Kiss, a Conviction, and a Cross

Palm Sunday and Holy Week may offer us an opportunity to be with our own suffering and joy, hurt and healing, betrayal and forgiveness, loneliness and connection. As we move through these sacred days, we may see how, as we enter into the Passion of Jesus, Christ has entered into our own passion too, this life we’re living, day by day and year by year.

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3rd Sunday of Advent: You Can’t Force Joy

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3rd Sunday of Advent: You Can’t Force Joy

I can’t force joy. However, as the Letter to the Philippians invites, I can lay my difficulties before God and receive the love and care God offers. And, when God gifts me with joy, I can welcome it and give thanks for it, because in periods of sorrow, a moment of joy feels like an enormous relief, a glowing light in a pitch-black night. I’ve learned to honor whatever feelings I have; to do otherwise is to slip into avoidance, and that’s just not helpful. We’re invited to bring how we are – our petitions and prayers – before God. However, I never want to be so shrouded with sorrow or stress that I miss joy when it arrives.

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