ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 31, 2022This will be my third Etching on forgiveness as we approach the end of the year. This one is simple: Before entering the new year, forgive yourself. This is often the most challenging, and it can sometimes stand in the way of you forgiving someone else. I started looking around to see who had something insightful to say on the subject, and as you might
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 30, 2022Yesterday, I wrote about forgiveness. There is, of course, more to say on the subject. When I think about the frustration that comes with seriously pondering an attempt at forgiveness, I appreciate the words of Brené Brown: “…sometimes when we are beating ourselves up, we need to stop and say to that harassing voice inside, ‘Man, I’m doing the very best I can right now.’”
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS December 29, 2022As we approach 2023, who do you need to forgive? Before answering, let’s review the basic guidelines of forgiveness. First, forgiving someone in no way suggests the injury caused was justified or even okay. You can forgive someone and still say what was done was wrong. That’s usually the case. Second, forgiveness does not automatically make you feel better or all warm inside. It
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 28, 2022Today is the Holy Day of the Innocents, the day the church remembers the youngest martyrs. It is the day on the church’s calendar to remember the children of Bethlehem who were murdered by Herod’s decree after he learned of a new king being born (Matthew 2:16). In reflecting on this day, it is important to remember the children of Myanmar, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mexico, Ukraine,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 27, 2022You might have heard or read about them, but no matter how you received them, the words of Pope Francis during his Christmas Day Homily might have been the clearest expression of truth the world has heard in recent years. He spoke about the war in Ukraine as “a grave famine of peace,” while also suggesting this famine of peace reaches into many other parts
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 26, 2022In Galatians 2, we read: They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do. Today is the Feast Day of St. Stephen who is considered the first deacon of the church and the first martyr. As a deacon, he served those who were poor, including the widow and the orphan. In many cultures, today is
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 25, 2022In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, we find the words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 24, 2022Christmas Eve! Let that soak in for a moment. I still have amazing memories from childhood of this day. Usually grandparents were visiting, maybe some other relative. The gifts under the tree were numerous. Stockings were in their proper place waiting for the arrival of Santa. The plan was always to attend the 11:00pm Christmas Eve Service, so we’d start getting all dressed up around
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 23, 2022When the church celebrates Christmas, it is celebrating an absurdity. Some people are quite excited about the way our culture has “embraced” Christmas. I would suggest it has, instead, squeezed the absurdity out of Christmas in hopes of making it sweet and conventional. Yet the story, if given the freedom to speak its truth, will be as shocking and rebellious as it was in the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSDecember 22, 2022In the 5th chapter of the Prophet Micah, we read: “And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace…” In earlier words from that