Our Weekly Devotionals are created by our staff and members to inspire reflections and conversation.
Ins and Outs of 2024
My past new year’s resolutions have been being a SMART-goaling, manifesting, vision board, word-of-the-year kind of energy. I might commit to write a sentence a day, eat more vegetables or floss. But this year, none of those activities seemed appealing. The idea of resolutions seemed tired. Our 15 ½ year old dog Grace died on Dec. 28th. It was not unexpected, and she left this world peacefully. However, the loss has hit us all hard. So, in honor of Grace, you might consider this alternative activity that made its way around social media: think about your Ins / Outs for 2024.
A Lesson in Welcoming the New Year
One of my most poignant memories of New Years is a moment I was not there to experience. In my role as the family archivist, I was working my way through old photos, and I decided it was time to go through the movies. I had Dad’s projector set up in the basement with the beam of light aimed at the wall, trying to decide what to have converted into a current video format, and what I should pitch, of the thousands of feet of movie film in the tins in the box on the floor.
Juxtaposed Childhoods
My sister and I have been typing my father's small, handwritten script from the first notebook of his autobiography. This morning, I typed 5 pages from his childhood about sledding. The details of his memory are astounding...how could he remember so much about whizzing down hills, racing with his 5 older brothers, missing the dinner bell, and crashing into trees in the dark?
Mary
Advent and Lent are the same season, the pastor explained. The waiting and the anticipation, the richness of the deep purple that adorns the worship space, the cast of “lead characters” in the familiar texts. Of course they are; Advent and Lent are the same season.
Christmas Dream
We spend most of the year blocking out the cries of the poor and suffering. In Hamas, Ukraine, and Sub Saharan Africa. In our oceans and lakes. In our atmosphere and feedlots. In much of the United States.
Maybe we read some news stories. Or doom scroll headlines and pictures on social media. Or spend an afternoon volunteering somewhere. Or write a check.
But mostly we do nothing.
Just A Moment In The Day
Sometimes the essence of our faith can be revealed by spontaneous simple events, not by a miracle or exorbitant transformation.
A few weeks ago, I must admit my ride to downtown on I-35 was spoiled by a driver who leaned into my lane and sharply cut dangerously in front of me. It didn't bring the best out in me and caused a lingering sullenness. I continued going downtown, our group picked up grocery donations and then headed to Cherith Brook.
Grateful for my Grandmother
She barely opened her eyes during our visit, but I know that she was aware of our presence. As her newly manicured hand held on to her great granddaughter’s hand, I had to fight back tears knowing that that this will more than likely be our last holiday season with her. In July, my 90 year old grandmother fell in her assisted living center, and since then, she has never fully recovered. Now in the care of hospice nurses, we ride the emotional wave that is loving someone at their closing of life.
Dance Leaves Dance
Over the past few weeks I’ve grown accustomed to the “crunch crunch” of a sea of leaves starting as soon as I step out the patio door to fulfill my daily ritual of filling our bird feeders each morning. Fall is unquestionably in the air, as well as at our feet. This season of the year is definitely my favorite, with winter a close second.
Control
This Thursday, my commute home was over twice the normal amount of time—it took 10 minutes to even leave the parking garage. There was an NFL game, the president was in town, and there were major accidents on the highway. As I looked for openings in between cars and tried to maneuver the fastest, most efficient route, I started thinking about control. What we can and can’t control, and how efforts to control the uncontrollable end up controlling us. (I know—it’s a tongue twister.)
The Beginning
I have a question for each of you, dear readers, do you think the original author of the Creation story in Genesis 1 meant for the line "Let there be light!" to be trumpeted or whispered? I'm drawn to this question because I think it speaks to the innate nature of the Cosmos to be both unpredictable and measurable in equal strides.
Healing Love
Listening today to this song we sing together so often, I was struck by the lyric, “everybody heals with love”. Seems these days that the amount of love it would take to heal all the brokenness in our world is way more love than anybody has on hand. But that’s actually not true. At the very least, we each have enough love on any given day to practice for 60 seconds.
New Communities
I’ve been thinking about how Paul didn’t write letters to individuals, but instead wrote letters to communities of faith. Paul didn’t write a letter to Bob in Corinth or Jane in Thessalonica. Paul’s letters addressed issues that were affecting all the people in those early Christian communities.
A Look Inside
It was the first day that Judy and I had ventured out into Barcelona on our own, and we decided that we’d use Rick Steve’s audio tour of the Gothic quarter to guide us in our wandering. His recorded voice guided us through our earbuds down narrow streets still filled with deep morning shadows, to a metal gate along the storefronts. We tentatively pulled it open and found ourselves in a dark alley that opened into a small bright courtyard.
The Trinity
I had a little work sabbatical in September and spent a glorious month in Spain. Part of that time, I walked on The Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage dating back to the 9th century. For people in the Middle Ages, this pilgrimage helped atone for sins and assure salvation. While it has lost much of its religious devotion, it still holds a spiritual component for most. Along the way, I talked to a man who said he walked the 500 miles to Santiago an atheist and walked home a Christian.
For Love or Money
So I’m listening to a podcast the other day and I guess I’m the last one to find out that Jeff Bezos is among the mega-rich investors in new medical technology that will basically slow down, or even stop, aging. Is it strange that my impulse is to say, “no, thanks”? Of course, my prayer is to live a long, healthy life. I want to be there for my kids, to offer support and to see them realize their dreams and their beautiful potential.
Everybody
Last week I met a woman born at St. Luke’s Hospital on the same day as me. Delivered by the same doctor. She was born, and then I arrived exactly twelve hours later.
I was seeing her at Cherith Brook with Care Beyond the Boulevard. She has schizophrenia, is currently homeless and warned me her blood pressure might be high because she had used meth that day. She apologized for speaking so loudly, said her eardrums were perforated and therefore could never seem to regulate volume. She needed medicine and reassurance.
Safe Spaces
She lurked around the classrooms, noting the classes that had the “Safe Space” rainbow stickers displayed outside their doors. With her son in tow, she marched over to the unassuming counselor who was greeting our upcoming 5th graders, and proceeded to ask the counselor where the Christian teachers were.
Change Anyone? Anyone???
As I lean into a long holiday weekend today, I find myself reflecting upon the carousel of kaleidoscopic changes that have come to me and to our clan over the course of the last year plus.
Camping
Recently, I went camping for perhaps the first time in 15 years. Leading up to the trip, I was excited to enjoy the outdoors and get a break from my normal routine. When I researched camping supplies, the images online looked so peaceful and scenic.
Then, we arrived at the campsite.
Devotion
At the beginning of this year, I was challenged to set goals guided by Danielle LaPorte’s book, The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul. I read the book and completed every single exercise. By the end, I had claimed five core desired feelings, one for each of the following categories: livelihood & lifestyle, body & wellness, creativity & learning, relationships & society, and essence & spirituality.