I spend a lot of time on how the pieces of paper I produce for work look. No, I do not proofread well all the time, but I care about the layout and the look. Not that I know what I’m doing, but something tells me that this is important. I haven’t been able to [...]
Isaiah 63:7-9; Hebrews 2:10-18 Fox Valley Presbyterian Church A few weeks ago, I found myself in line at a discount store looking exactly like the Mom I thought I would never be—the one with too many Christmas presents for her kid. Looking for something entirely different, I had wandered into the children’s section and found [...]
Yep, I’m supposed to be writing my sermon. But I need to write something else. My brain is shredded enough from thinking about why on earth God would send a peasant-baby as the Messiah that these will be random thoughts. Zora made out like a bandit for Christmas. Even though we were thinking about not [...]
Immensity, cloistered in thy dear womb, Now leaves his well-beloved imprisonment, There he hath made himself to his intent Weak enough, now into our world to come; But oh, for thee, for him, hath the inn no room? Yet lay him in this stall, and from the Orient, Stars, and wisemen will travel to prevent [...]
A few little tidbits that are link-worthy: Singing clergy: We do this on special occasions. Honestly, it makes me feel a little bit like the family VonTrap. I guess I wish we did it regularly so that it wouldn’t be special, but a special pattern for worship. God IS Great: I have been annoyed with [...]
I’m sitting here working on a little writing piece and I asked for Erik’s opinion about a clumsy sentence. He was helpful, but then got too picky for my taste about one phrase. In order to shut him down, I said, “My master’s degree is bigger than your master’s degree.” (i.e. mine took 4 years [...]
Last night, my latest issue of Brain, Child arrived. There’s a great review by Kristin Kovacic of three books about teenagers (by the way, all of these books have longer titles, but I’m too lazy to type them, so click the links to see the subtitles): The Stardust Lounge, by Deborah Digges What It Takes [...]
You’d think, if you had a boatload of speech writers on the payroll, and if you had the cash to hire some experts, that maybe someone in your entourage would do a little research and try to write something intelligent for you to say about other religious traditions. Nope. In Mitt Romney’s big religion speech, [...]
I’m curious now about other people’s favorite Advent music. So, I’m starting a meme. 5 favorite Advent songs, maybe traditional, maybe just things make you feel all Advent-y, and we’d really like to know if there’s a recording you especially like. I tag: Meg; Katherine; Heidi; and Stacey.
If Meika and Shelly can count as popular demand, a few ideas for Advent music: First, there is usually an Advent track or two on your Christmas albums. I highly recommend using the gift of mix CDs to take those songs and put them together. I do have an Advent playlist on my iPod. Here [...]