ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 22, 2022Guest Writer: Rev. Paula GembalaDuring the last few months, I have dealt with a lot of illness. I have used this time to use intercessory prayer for you and others. I often pray for others, but during this time while I have been so limited in what all I was able to do, this has been a wonderful experience. I have pulled up the online
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 21, 2022Guest Writer: Dr. Joel PlaagIt’s shelves, floor to ceiling – ugly metal ones at that; the kind that probably come as a knock-off from some half-witted container-store-esque style, but not nearly as hip and cool. At least they’re not rusty, I thought to myself, when we first moved into this place more than six years ago. This closet holds all the medicines, the old eyeglasses
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 20, 2022Guest Writer: Robert Aghamalian, poet and church member Choices© by Robert AghamalianNovember 20, 1995 Life is about choices .. The wisdom of the agesAccording to the sagesIs found in the choices that are madeAnd the prices that are paid,It’s about the chances we takeWith the life that we make.Life’s reward is ours to win or looseDepending on how we choose:Get ahead, push and shoveGive no
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 19, 2022Guest Writer: Rev. Paula GembalaI saw a post on Facebook recently that really had an impact on me. The post said “Some people need to be told they are worthy, and that they are loved, not because no one told them before, but because someone told them they weren’t.” As a Christian, as a mother, as a human being, I just cannot imagine telling someone
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 18, 2022Guest Writer: Rev. Mariah NewellScripture: Galatians 5:22-23“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Thoughts: Last week I heard two similar statements, in two different settings, that had me reflecting on this Scripture from Galatians. On a Regional ‘catch up’ Zoom, Rev. Virzola Law said “Joy is an act of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 17, 2022Frederick Buechner died this week. If you don’t know the name, I want to encourage you to get to know his writings. I wrote on Facebook, “I feel like I lost a friend. He served as a mentor from the pages of his books.” He was a Presbyterian Minister, but mostly known as a down-to-earth theologian and author. In his book, “Telling Secrets,” he told
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 16, 2022Yesterday’s prayer was written collectively, though not in the way most folks think of collectively. I heard the word “exhausted” numerous times yesterday. I heard it used by someone being interviewed on the news first thing in the morning; I heard it spoken by one of the radio personalities on my drive to church; I heard it from a number of people with whom I
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 15, 2022Prayer for the Week:Exhausted! An ever-flowing stream of injustice lies hate masquerading as religion the suffering of the vulnerableI am exhausted! There are things to be done carpools a dishwasher to be unloaded clothes sitting in the dryer for a third day a brown lawn still in need of mowingWe are exhausted! People are hungry in body and spirit homelessness on every street corner COVID
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 14, 2022Yesterday, on my front door, I found a “tract,” a religious pamphlet that someone had left. On the front cover, it asked: Are you a good person? In Mark 10, a man runs to Jesus and refers to him as a “Good teacher,” but Jesus responds by asking, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except God alone. ” The response of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 13, 2022Today is the first Saturday after the start of school. I have very specific memories of this day as it changed from elementary school to middle school and then to high school. As a younger kid, after being “forced” to wake up early for a few days that first week after summer break, there was something wonderful about that first reprieve. Of course, later in