-Autumn Without Family-
He sat, or rather, the bench held him while he curled like paint flakes and watched for the bus. Breath percolated out of his nose as if unsure. Short motes, and long ice trails. He briefly adjusted his woolmitts from folded to crossed with elbows. But the real cold was in the set of his face. That sat stronger than the rest of him, or even the bench. Dignity freshly siphoned from his shoulders. His grey pant-legs quaked above his shoes. Shivering shins tapping out an argument between being old and being free. Where he was going was not home. And where he left was just as empty. The bus curchunked, and swung its grimeglass doors. There was a grateful air in the way it swallowed him. 00 Be the 1st to vote.Share...
Read MoreThoughts About Stewardship-Vicar’s Corner
Newsletter article on Stewardship written to my internship congregation Trinity Lutheran Church wherein I make a poop joke. — In this time of gathering harvest, families, and thoughts– it is good to take a moment and think about what lies at the heart and other end of gathering: giving. What do I mean by “what lies at heart and other end”? I mean that what we often take to be the opposite or other-end of a thing (gathering in, versus giving out) can often also be found deep at the very heart of that thing itself. Luther made this discovery in distinguishing between Law and Gospel, that is, the word that puts to death and the word that brings to new life. Sometimes at the very bottom of the law is written the gospel. The very thing that puts us to...
Read MoreRender Unto Caesar- Sermon.
Grace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, Amen. To say there is very little the Pharisees have in Common with the Herodians, is an understatement. It would be like if Sarah Palin didn’t like what Jesus was saying, so she went and got together with her good chum Hillary Clinton and approached him. Their main platforms are exactly opposite one another. The Pharisees on one side, don’t like Rome and its constant meddling in their affairs. Meanwhile, the Herodians are committed to keeping Rome in power through the puppet King Herod. About the only thing they have in common is that they don’t like Jesus. So I hope you can feel the tension in the room when they ask their question: “Tell us, is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor,...
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