Year B – Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost.
During college and seminary I experienced many times a phenomenon I have quickly named “syllabus shock.” It goes a little something like this: It’s the first day of class and you start out excited. It’s going to be a great semester full of fun and learning. And then your professor plops a thick, dissertation size […]
Read MoreLectionary Year B – Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost.
He wasn’t supposed to be able to hear us. He had gone on ahead and we let him, anxious for a break; for a chance to process the events of the day. The group had split up. Peter, James, and John went with Jesus up a mountain and apparently something pretty amazing happened. I wish […]
Read MoreYear B – 16th Sunday after Pentecost
I love baseball and I love wordplay. So when I discovered Abbott and Costello’s radio skit, “Who’s on First” I laughed hysterically. I suggest giving the congregation a preview of the skit. You could have someone do it with you or play a clip of it (audio or video). Video Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=airT-m9LcoY Script: Abbott: Strange […]
Read MoreYear B - 15th Sunday after Pentecost
I don’t really like looking in the mirror. I tend to be pretty critical about what I see when I gaze too long in the glass. I find I tend to spend an adequate amount of time in the mornings in front of the mirror—getting ready to leave the privacy of my house and expose […]
Read MoreYear C - Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost - (Proper 25)
I like my TV shows to be somewhat predictable. I do like a little surprise here and there but basically I feel like there is a certain way that the world works and I like my TV to follow these rules. The guy should get the girl, families should be reunited, when you do something […]
Read MoreYear C – Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost - (Proper 24)
I didn’t watch the event that blew up my Facebook page but I read a lot about it. He made it but not without a good dose of suspense and the majority of the world watching. I’m going to be honest; I didn’t like it at all. This man was walking a tightrope across the […]
Read MoreYear C – Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost - (Proper 23)
The headline read, “Doctor’s Orders: 20 Minutes of Meditation Twice a Day.” This Wall Street Journal article began, “At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, doctor’s orders can include an unlikely prescription: meditation” (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324345804578424863782143682.html). In this article, meditation is said to assist with anything from insomnia to irritable bowl syndrome. It is said to […]
Read MoreYear C - Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost - (Proper 22)
“I think we all need a pep talk,” nine-year-old Robby Novak, better known as “Kid President” tells us in a popular Youtube video (SoulPancake, “A Pep Talk from Kid President to You”). This third grader lives with a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, which in the words of Kid President means you “break easy” (SoulPancake, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcZVGjG6LWM). […]
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