Lent as a church season In most Christian churches throughout the world, today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent is a period of 40 weekdays, observed by believers as a penitential and devotional preparation for Holy Week and Easter Sunday’s remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is also […]
Faith (Connect with God)
A New Year…A New Beginning
We can’t go back, but we can begin again. We can’t undo our mistakes, but we can learn from them. Forget getting back to normal or “new normal.” Who decides that anyway? Only you. If we’re honest, we don’t really want everything to stay the same. Change is an essential part of growth. Holy Scripture—as […]
An Old Story With New Life
This marvelous performance (16 minutes) by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, narrated beautifully by Hugh Bonneville, is not just telling the poignant and inspiring origin story of one of our most beloved hymns—”It is well with my soul”—but it is a powerful reminder of what Christmas means and how it can elevate us to the realm […]
Advent: The Season Of Breathless Anticipation
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to […]
Book Review: The Book Of Longings
Author: Sue Monk KiddPublished 20205 stars There were so many marvelous layers to this book! First, it is a fascinating and well-researched story based on the premise that for ten years before his ministry, Jesus had a wife named Ana and she was both a writer and a feminist of her time. Viewing the life […]
It’s Easter Anyway
Church building doors are still closed seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and even after they open, there will be significant changes to the way we take communion and pass the peace. Back in April, we celebrated Easter without a real organ or the scent of lilies or the squeals of excited, squirmy children in […]
Living Reconciliation
ABOVE: Kathryn Laws and the author visiting the Philadelphia Zoo in 2018 Note from Elizabeth: The May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd from police brutality has galvanized the world and sent people like me scrambling to learn, understand, and take action to be part of the solution. I was put off by the extremes […]
Independence Day: Remember, Be Thankful, Pray, and Celebrate
First, let’s remember… As the world is rocked with a pandemic combined with cultural, political, economic, and societal unrest, it is entirely appropriate and important that we reflect today on this great nation—even with all its flaws—and marvel at the vision of our founding fathers so long ago. Let’s remember our history: On July 2nd, […]