Lord, teach me. . . .

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. –Napoleon Hill If you are a lectionary preacher (like I try to be), during Eastertide we see a dramatic shift. Suddenly we are no longer given a reading from the Old Testament; now, instead of looking back to our Jewish heritage, we are looking forward to the spread of the Good News, specifically at the Acts of the Apostles. And that can be challenging. I mean, seriously. We just heard about Thomas, the one who wants to see to believe (don’t we all), and now we are bombarded by story after story of hundreds of people coming to believe in Jesus and being healed—simply by hanging around Peter and the rest! How come we don’t see miracles like this happening all around us anymore? What am I not doing? Am I that weak in faith? Pause for a minute. Look around. Open your eyes. Miracles are happening everywhere. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a little miracle. They are all huge . A child spea...

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! Let it shine! Let it shine! Let it shine! --Traditional gospel song Easter is over. We have said the words: Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! We have sung the chorus: Hallelujah! We have celebrated the Resurrection of the Lord one more time. Now what? Jesus came into the world fully human in appearance. He dwelt among us, loved all whom he encountered, healed the sick, dined with the hungry, comforted those in pain. On the final night he spent with those closest to them, he reminded them, one last time, of the challenges to come. He also told them, yet again, how he expected them to live: A new commandment I have given you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love each other. (John 13:34) The season of Easter this year continues for seven Sundays. For the next seven weeks, I urge you to continue to celebrate the return of Love in our world—and to be that love. Sure, I have no do...

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate in what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. –Oprah Winfrey Hi, my name is Heidi—and I admit it: I am a bit of a Seder junkie. In a good way. I just really, really appreciate learning more about the holidays and traditions of faiths not my own. The Passover Seder is especially intriguing because as a Jew, Jesus celebrated Passover his whole life. So by learning more about this holiday, I am learning more about Jesus. (Plus—the desserts are yummy.) This past week, we again attended an Interfaith Passover Seder meal at a local Jewish temple, along with 440 other curious individuals from various denominations. We asked the Four Questions ( Why is this night like no other night? ), awkwardly sang and prayed in Hebrew, and sampled the traditional, symbolic foods of the Seder. We came away feeling like we had participated in something special, and like we knew a little more about Jes...

I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness—it’s right in front of me if I am paying attention and practicing gratitude. –Brene Brown Tracking Elephants There is a wonderful tale told of a man who wandered through life seeking evidence of God, in much the same way a game hunter would track animals in the jungle. He would speak with people he met, and when he encountered someone whose life seemed beautifully transformed by the presence of the Holy One, he would think to himself, “Oh, my—those are the tracks of a really BIG elephant!” Sometimes it’s easy to see where God is at work in our own life or the life of another. Fingerprints, hoof tracks—evidence of God-- can often be easy to spot. During this holy season of Lent, it can be even easier to discern what God is up to, as the elephants seem to be bellowing aloud at times. Other times it may seem more like we are tracking field mice, or fireflies. They move so quietly and so quickly that actually ...