ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSNovember 4, 2022Guest Writer: Rev. Mariah NewellI had seesaws on my grade school playground. I remember when I got into high school, my friends and I would go back to that playground. We would have two people sit on either end of the seesaw going up and down, as high as they could make it go, and then another person would sit, barely rocking, in the middle
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSNovember 3, 2022You have probably already seen some Christmas commercials, some Christmas aisles showing up in the stores, and even heard some Christmas music. Halloween is behind us, so we’ve got to get focused on Christmas. Right? Around my house growing up, we were pretty diligent about keeping Christmas at bay. In fact, there was a constant reminder that we focused on Thanksgiving, learning (relearning) to be
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSNovember 2, 2022The translation of Proverbs 24:10 that is found in what is called the Message is really quite intriguing. It reads: “If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place.” Those words seem to play well with the words of Abraham Lincoln, who said, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSNovember 1, 2022On Sunday, we celebrated All Saints’ Sunday. Today is the official All Saints’ Day, the day after All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween). Yes, for those who are unaware, the origins of Halloween are rooted in Christian tradition. It’s a good reminder of the dance between the sacred and the secular, and how often the secular comes to overshadow and redefine the sacred. Of course, where is
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSOctober 31, 2022May the scares of this day be met with laughter, and any fears be turned into joy. O God of the Unexpected, today we experience a strange happening within our culture. Children request a sweet while dressed as a hero, a monster, or some combination of the two. With a knock and a “trick-or-treat,” wandering hordes expect a gift to be placed in handheld candy
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSOctober 30, 2022What does it mean to be community? As followers of Jesus, the answer is both simple and complex. Whenever someone says something is simple and complex, I usually roll my eyes and give a sigh of dissatisfaction. Yet, in this case, I hold strong to the paradox. In Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he suggests we need to be cautious and not do things that
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSOctober 29, 2022Coretta Scott King wrote, “When the heart is right, the mind and the body will follow…” Though the quote will not be included in my sermon tomorrow, it almost was. I like the quote, even though I don’t know if it is necessarily true every day. There are those times when no matter how right the heart is, if the body is in bad shape,
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSOctober 28, 2022I find myself writing Etchings very similar to previous Etchings. Quite often, I have written on a specific topic only to see the same situation arise again and again. Please understand that I am not suggesting my Etchings should make any dramatic change in the world, but there is that deep-seated hope within me that sort of wants to believe that we can do better.
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSOctober 27, 2022“When was the last time your heart was broken?” That was a question I remember a youth minister asking when I was a youth. He then added something like, “I’m not talking about that special someone you were dating or wanting to date, but a situation outside of your romantic desires that truly broke your heart.” I’m guessing, at least for many of you, answering
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSOctober 26, 2022In recent weeks, in part because of my class on Signs and Wonders (miracles), I have been thinking about the word healing. In Mark 10, Jesus asks a blind man the question, “What do you want me to do for you?” My first reaction as I read those words is to laugh. “He’s blind,” I think to myself. “It’s pretty obvious what he would want.”