Lenten Devotionals Tuesday March 21,2023: Dishonest About Our Abundance
“[The disciples] said to [Jesus], ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And [Jesus] said to them, ‘How many loves have you? Go and see.’” (Mark 6:37-38) How often, it seems, we operate with a script that tells us there just isn’t enough-not […]
Lenten Devotionals Monday, March 20, 2023: Dishonest About Our Abilities
“But Moses said to the Lord, ‘O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’” (Exodus 4:10) Often times, when God calls, our default response is “I can’t,” when the more honest […]
Lenten Devotionals Sunday March 19, 2023: Dishonest About Our Deceit
“If we say tha we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) God will not allow us to feel right when we do wrong. Our souls suffer, our spirits are diminished, our God-given potential stunted when we deceive ourselves and the truth is not within us. […]
Lenten Devotionals Saturday March 18, 2023: Joy of Newness
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Madeline was a precocious, curly-haired 3-year-old who couldn’t stand or sit still. I had no idea how her baptism would go. But if the rehearsal was any indication, this sacramental moment […]
Lenten Devotionals Friday March 17, 2023: Joy of Dancing
“David danced before the Lord with all his might.” (2 Samuel 6:14) Some time ago, a video of the late Congressman John Lewis dancing to Pharrell Williams’ hit song “Happy” went viral. The encouraging voice behind the camera called, “C’mon, break it down, Congressman,” as Lewis shook, swayed, and clapped his hands to the beat. […]
Lenten Devotionals Thursday March 16, 2023: Joy of Giving
“Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9″7) I attended a number of parties where a gift exchange game is played. Recently. I attended one where we all brought a wrapped book. One person chooses a gift […]
Lenten Devotionals Wednesday March 15, 2023: Joy of Friendship
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10) When I recently moved to a new state and community, I knew I needed to be intentional about making new friends. I’d left behind a relationship with a mother […]
Lenten Devotionals Tuesday March 14, 2023: Joy of Laughter
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.” (Psalm 98:4) “People crave laughter as if it were an essential amino acid.” Robin Williams said, playing Patch Adams in the 1998 hit movie. Based on the true story of Hunter “Patch” Adams, the movie champions an approach to healing that treats the person, not […]
Lenten Devotionals Monday March 13, 2023: Joy of Children
“Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) Over a lunch of hot dogs and mashed potatoes, our 3-year-old son said, “Look Mommy, I’m putting on my sunblock so I won’t get a sunburn.” “Mmm-hmm, that’s nice, honey,” I responded, lost in my thoughts about work […]
Lenten Devotionals Sunday March 12, 2023: Joy of Nature
“For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12) In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer tells the story of a plant scientist who […]
