by Jeni Grangaard The Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam, which means, “the healing, repairing and transforming of the world,” suggests that we humans have a shared job to heal the world. All people are called and gifted to enter into the brokenness together to repair what has been broken. The Japanese have a tradition called […]
by Megan Torgerson I guess you could say I’m a gray kind of girl. To be fair, in many things I’m more blue than gray: I like my sky clear, not cloudy, and I’m more apt to wear robin’s egg blue than charcoal. But outside of color preference, you’ll usually find me in gray. That […]
by Rachel Bass Guennewig I feel a small sense of dread when I think about Valentine’s Day. I seem to sabotage myself with dreams of sweetness and romance that do not often correspond with my husband’s plans for the day. It has taken me a while to peel off the layers of self-inflicted […]
by Emily Carson Growing up, I desperately wanted to be a news anchor or an infomercial host. I regularly convinced my little brother to play “news” with me. We’d get out the giant VHS video-camera and hours of fun would ensue. I didn’t end up becoming a news anchor, but from time to time, that […]
by Joy McDonald Coltvet Kindness is like a garden of blessings and almsgiving endures forever. (Sirach 40:17) Somewhere along the way, I learned that when you invite guests to your home, you must clean until everything sparkles and serve more food than the guests could possibly eat. This can make the idea of inviting others’ […]
by Laura Johnson “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18) The holiday of Thanksgiving falls always on Thursday. If it were really about being thankful, the day would be on a Friday or Monday so […]
by Collette Broady Preiss They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went […]
by Megan Rohrer My grandmother grew up during the Great Depression. Living on a farm in Oregon with no car and 12 miles to the nearest Lutheran church, my great-grandparents could not afford to take my grandmother to church to get baptized. More than 70 years later, my grandmother’s face lit up as […]
by Mary Button Psalm 104 is a hymn to an all-loving, all-knowing Creator. It begins with the words, “Bless the Lord, O my soul” and is filled with beautiful images of a God who stretches out the heavens like a tent and makes the wind a messenger and fire and flame ministers. More than […]
For Lutherans, gratitude is not just a noun. It is both something we have and something we do. It is the way we live into relationship with God. Gratitude is what Martin Luther called “the basic Christian attitude.”