“So I take a walk.  I take a walk, and I notice how blustery and windy it has gotten while I have been huddling inside the house.  My ears are cold; so is the tip of my nose.  It is cloudy, but soon the sun breaks through, and bronze leaves swirl and leap in the street.  I notice little patches of foliage still erupting green into the afternoon light.”

“People on the street had their own reactions. Some passed by, looking anywhere but where a sock might be and pretending that there really wasn’t anything wrong at all. Some trod a careful path through the socks, being careful not to step on any or come in contact with them at all.”

“Here in the story of Hannah, we see how this God who performs the great reversal on the worldly fate of us creatures has been doing so not just since Jesus’ time, but since the early days of Jewish history. And try as I might to convince myself otherwise, I know that I am one who Hannah describes as ‘full.'”

“Each of us at times in our lives will be thwarted from doing a godly task. When the evil one interferes with Christ’s light working in your life, tell him Adios, Au revoir and maybe gesundheit too so you can continue to be God’s hands and feet on earth.”

“Today, here in America, we call today, Veteran’s Day. We must never forget this as a day of peace honoring first that one who had the strength to lay down his weapons and take up the shield of faith, clothing himself in a spirit of service to others.”

“So as I begin a new day, I’m entering it with eyes open to seeing beauty and hope. I’m eager to watch God show up in the canvas of my days: in artwork from my children, a friend reaching out, a hot cup of coffee, a homemade meal, the morning sun.”

“Discernment can lead to many paths, and ordination should not be seen as a better or higher path to serving God. In some cases, ordination restricts a person to a role that limits what God might be calling the person to – perhaps to something more expansive than the parameters of serving the church.”

“It’s a vision meant to be lived-out while we are alive.  It’s supposed to give us the courage to embody the Way of Love, growing ever more discerning and wise as we go on.  It’s supposed to show us the upside down reality of things — how the first are last and the last are first.”

“It is one thing to read the Bible straight through and think we’ve covered it. We read strange stories with people doing things we can’t understand and can’t figure out how such things got into the word of God. But through study, consultation with commentaries, pastors, theologians, and the like, we begin to understand that there is more here than just a simple reading will provide.”