Uphill idealist

A reflection on Matthew 16:21-28 Do you know that there is something very special about your hands? There are 29 bones in each of your hands. Also there are 37 muscles that help your hands to move and pick things up. What is something that you do well with your hands? Can you think of anything else that is really interesting about your hands? Your fingerprints are really interesting! Fingerprints are the tiny ridges, whorls and valley patterns on the tip of each finger. They form from pressure on a baby's tiny, developing fingers in the womb. No two people have been found to have the same fingerprints -- they are totally unique. There's a one in 64 billion chance that your fingerprint will match up exactly with someone else's. Fingerprints are even more unique than DNA, the genetic material in each of our cells. Although identical twins can share the same DNA -- or at least most of it -- they can't have the same fingerprints. (Info from article at ...

The lyrics of the song, "Please release me, let me go.."  (thank you Tom Jones ) have been bouncing around my mind all week. I've been pondering on the practical and spiritual meaning of the story of Lazarus and what it means to be "untied" from things that bind or hold people back. Later this weekend, I will be sharing a children's message based on the reading in John 11, concerning the death of Lazarus. I know the story and I'm pretty sure that we shared it with the kids at VBS a few years ago, but I'd like to be careful in how it's presented. This Sunday is All Saints Sunday, it was just Halloween - and as much as I like the fun of Halloween, I don't want the account of Lazarus and Jesus to sound like another spooky story. The more I read this account, the more I'm struck on how Jesus walks into a situation of grief, experiences that grief, and takes action to release his friends and himself from it. The words that I keep g...

When I was about 10 years old... I remember my Mom coming home from a church activity with a jar of batter that was called 'Herman'. For the next several months, my mom baked many loaves of 'Herman" for me and my siblings to eat. Herman made a big impression on me. How could something so small make so many loaves of bread? How exactly did 'Herman' grow and regrow itself with very little involvement or fuss?  As a child I began to think of 'Herman' as having his own personality. Herman was: Smart, giving, easygoing, self sufficient, mysterious, smelly (like yeast), resourceful, and patient. The more I think about 'Herman' as an adult, I think his/her personality are ones I'd like to claim for my own. (Minus the smelly part of course.) For the last several weeks, the gospel lessons for the lectionary readings have been about Jesus being "the bread of life".  ( John 6: 51-58 ) I thought about the ingredients of bread, th...

Image from 123RF One of my favorite smells in the world is freshly baked bread. When I was little, my family and I lived with a neighbor as my dad was in the process of building our new home. Estella, our neighbor and close family friend, would bake all the time. So, when I got off the bus from school each day, it was a regular occurrence for me to have freshly baked snacks to eat. Sometimes she would make cookies, sometimes apple turn overs, but more often than not, Estella would bake bread. The smell of the bread would travel through her house and waft out the windows and doors to beacon me inside when I returned home from school. The fragrance of fresh-baked bread led me to a safe, warm, kitchen after a long day at school. My traveling feet found a place to rest in Estella's kitchen. Estella's bread had a way of resetting my heart and mind on good things, even after a hard day. In the account of Jesus on the road to Emmaus, two of his followers are traveling along the road. ...

Image from K.tok Blog. The gospel reading for this coming Sunday is John 17:20-26 and it deals with the themes of belief and unity in the lives of the believers in Jesus. When I think of when I've been most impressed with Christians, it's been when they take what they believe, are united by what they share and take action to serve others. It might sound trite, but the song "They will know we are Christians by our love.", comes to mind. One thing essential for such a miraculous thing as unity to occur is prayer. Without prayer we all just float along on good intentions and unattainable ideals. Prayer is the spiritual practice that keeps us together in unity. Prayer could be described as spiritual rubber cement. Or in this case...a high five for unity. Let me explain. Image from Catholicchalifax.org If prayer is so important, why is it so difficult to practice at times? I think some feel they don't have the right words to say or the plan of how to go about it. Year...

Image from AJM Networking . When someone is a VIP they are bound to receive some wonderful treatment, adoration of fans, and world wide attention. VIP's are treated special and are sometimes seen as "better than" the average person. After all they are very important people. Right before Jesus ascension into heaven Jesus gives his followers a new commandment. John 13:34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Jesus could have given any instruction to his followers that day, but he choose to emphasize the primary and life-long importance of living a life of love. The love we have and share with the people around us is better than anything we could give or receive, even all those things a VIP might be likely to have. To become a VID(Very Important Disciple) , one needs to look first to the needs of others and go about the busines...