Category Archives: Holy Days

January 16, 2016 · 9:47 am

New Vistas on a New Year

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I had the opportunity, along with fifteen other members of our short-term mission team, to welcome the new year while guests in Chile. I doubt that any one of us will soon forget this most unusual celebration of New Year’s, both because of our location and the vistas it provided. Nestled in the foot hills of the Andes, as guests of the Mapuche people (the indigenous tribal people of Chile) we were rich in both hospitality and scenery for the holiday.

The particular vista my host home offered was that of a pasture overlooking an alpine lake, with an active volcano jutting forth in the distance. (See picture above) Continue reading →

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April 1, 2015 · 3:51 pm

God Speaks

Daffodils  The attached picture is a scene from my morning walk from parking lot to office during these early days of Spring.  It was taken today, during Holy Week, as we make the annual pilgrimage with Jesus through the events of his passion.  It captures both the essence of where this week is headed – the hope and promise of new life; and reveals the residual holdings on of the what the next few days of the week bespeak – death, decay.

Notice the crumpled leaves hidden in recesses and alcoves of building and landscape that have clung through the winter. It’s so hard to let go of that which mires us down in the stuff of our lives and selves.  It’s always hanging on, around the edges, in the crevasses and the shadows – like a dead leaf that just won’t give in and blow away. Continue reading →

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Filed under Holy Days, Spiritual Formation

February 21, 2015 · 8:47 am

Leadership and Lent

As of this past Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) we have officially entered into the spiritual season of Lent. You may or may not come from a faith or personal tradition that observes Lent, but let me invite you to think about the season in relationship to the ways and places where you are asked to provide leadership.

Lent, a word derived from an old Anglo-Saxon term “lencten” means “spring” – a time of lengthening of days. Most of us are probably ready to see the tangible signs of spring about now as we are mired in the grip of winter.

In the church we have patterned our Lenten observances after the 40 days of temptation Jesus faced in the wilderness following his baptism. Through a period of fasting and prayer we see Jesus facing the temptations of the Evil One to live and lead in a way that is inconsistent with his identity and God’s will. Jesus manages his response to Satan through his faith, his knowledge and application of the Scriptures, and the strength he finds in communion with God. Continue reading →

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December 30, 2014 · 10:35 am

Ringing in the New Year

The world has changed a lot since I was a kid. It’s the new year, and specifically “New Years” that makes me think of this. A family tradition of several years running in my growing up days was to attend the New Year’s Eve Watch Service at church. What’s that? It’s where you gather with folks at church to “watch” the new year come in.

Our celebrations were often filled with food, games and conversation in the church basement. I faintly remember one year when Father Time and Baby New Year made an appearance in some kind of dramatic presentation. I think this was imprinted on me as some adult relative played the part of Baby New Year, clad in nothing but a cloth diaper!

As the hands on the clock crept ever closer to midnight Continue reading →

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December 19, 2014 · 4:17 pm

The Electric Color Wheel Christmas Tree

The Electric Color Wheel Christmas Tree

When I was a kid Christmas night meant a trip to my maternal Grandpa’s home for the Cunningham Christmas. A day that usually began well before the sun came up was extended to well after dusk with food, games and gifts as relatives gathered in the farmhouse Grandpa called home.

I had been in this house many times and often our visits took place in the combination dining and living room. Grandpa dwelt there, where his easy chair sat; the television on the opposite wall, a dining table to one side, with a stairway to the upper floor tucked away in the room’s corner. It was in this space that we visited, ate, and shared time with Grandpa – here, and outdoors on the farm itself. But not on Christmas! No, on Christmas we were fancy. This meant we went into the home’s front room, a room largely unknown to my siblings, cousins and I, and gathered round Grandpa’s spectacular aluminum Christmas tree. Continue reading →

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Filed under Family, Holy Days