It seems as though we preachers are challenged to come up with new sermons every Sunday, and this can be especially tricky during the holidays. How many ways can we find to talk about Easter, Christmas, and Advent? I had a minister for many years who used to joke with me that he basically had [...]
If you say “Christmas tree” to me or utter the words “Christmas decorations” I immediately become like a 5-year-old and see lights in my mind. I see twinkly, sparkly, dazzling colorful lights all around me. This is one of my most favorite things - the lights at Christmas time. The other night I turned off [...]
THE SEASON of Advent is about something unknown emerging on the horizon, something we have never seen before. The word “advent” comes from the Latin adventus – to come. There is wondrous and expectant feeling about the very word ‘Advent.’ In the northern hemisphere, Advent takes place during the darkest and coldest time of the [...]
Some of my favorite characters from the Christmas story are the wise men. Even though I know the stories aren’t historically true, I love that each character represents a part of me. As I have mentioned in the previous two articles, the narratives we have for the birth of Jesus are found in two of [...]
The other day I was talking with a friend who lives in Germany. It was already nightfall for her and she was sharing with me the beauty of their first snowfall this season. She described the scene outside her window with such clarity, that I couldn't help but close my eyes and imagine it for [...]
Christmas holds a special place in my heart, not because of any religion or theological beliefs, but mostly because it was my dad’s favorite holiday and because it’s a time of year for many family traditions and rituals to be played out. Every year we know the traditional frustration of hanging lights on the house [...]
If you think about it, doors are everywhere, we breeze through them hundreds of times a day, rarely noticing them. Doors offer us protection, solitude, safety. They can let someone in, or keep them out! They show us the direction in which we are headed. Stop and think about all the doors you have passed [...]
