Ruminations
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Teach us to pray
One of Jesus’ disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). If there’s ever a time when we need to learn how to pray, this is it. Following every mass shooting, as predictable as sunrise, the comments come, mostly from politicians and public officials, about communities being in their “thoughts and prayers.”… Continue reading
a precarious life, Anne Lamott, community, effective prayer, God at the ceneter, healing, Help, ineffective prayer, Jabez, justice, living in community, Make America Great Again, make the nation great again, Our Father in heaven, peace, prayer, prayer for shooting victims, prayer of Jabez, prayer of Jesus, precarious, principles of prayer, relationship with God, Thanks, the Lord's prayer, thoughts and prayers, to pray, transformation, transforming prayer, what is prayer?, Wow -
First things first
An approaching vacation brings to mind the words of Pogo, the cartoon character who’s been one of my longstanding spiritual advisors. “Important work,” he said, “like sittin’ around fishin’ remains to be done.” I’m not a fisherman, but I do enjoy “sittin’ around” occasionally. And I recall the words of William Henry Davies (1871-1940), the… Continue reading
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The key to life
It would be difficult to count the number of lives Dr. Jonathan Daniels touched, not only the parents and children in his pediatric practice who looked up to him but also the medical students in the school of medicine at the University at Buffalo for whom he was a mentor. “Students at the medical school… Continue reading
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Wind the clock, drive the truck
At the end of their long captivity in Babylon, God promised joy and blessings to the house of Israel and its descendants, descendants that include you and me (Isa. 66:10-14). But what if that house is built upon foundations that crumble? If the foundations are destroyed, what can the good do? The question is as… Continue reading
after the storm, Babylon, chaos, dark passage, E.B. White, Exodus, faith, foundations, God's footprints, God's new thing, hope, letter of hope, life crisis, new beginning, O for a faith that will not shrink, old-time religion, rebuilding a life, rebuilding foundations, the beginning of the end, the future, tomorrow, trust, William Bathurst, wind the clock -
In the debris and clutter
How can you live the best life possible, a life full and satisfying beyond anything you can imagine? The quest for that life is as old as human history. We see it in the search for the holy grail, for the fountain of youth, for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.… Continue reading
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In praise of a small life
Our unhappiness arises from one thing alone, according to seventeenth-century philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal. We’re unhappy, he believed, because we’re unable to stay quietly in one room. We can’t remain present and content where we are. We crave different things or more of the same things, and we strive after them. And in our… Continue reading
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Affirming our baptism
On this Pentecost Day in the congregation I serve, a young man formally and for the first time publicly affirmed the vows of Christian faith that were made for him at his baptism. It was also a day when all of those gathered affirmed their faith in the words of one of the historic confessions… Continue reading
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Interrupted by grace
If you want to make the most of your life and fulfill your life’s highest purpose, and if you want the greatest success in your job or career path, you need to stay focused on your dream or goal and resist distractions and interruptions as much as possible. By setting aside distractions and defending against… Continue reading
conversion, distractions, disturbing our city, God’s will, gun violence, handling interruptions, healing, interruptions, Jefferson Avenue, repentance, Robb Elementary School, school shootings, spiritual intervention, systemic healing, the baffled mind, the impeded stream, Tops Market killings, Uvalde, Wendell Berry
The Sauntering Pilgrim 