Here’s a push for reading outside the box. After a random comment that the letter of Jude is seldom (ever?) read, our Wednesday Bible study group decided to read it. It’s short. It wasn’t edifying. But it mentioned the book of Enoch. Enoch is obviously not in our Bible, but it has a long history in the Jewish tradition. It tells the story of how the world became so bad that God needed to destroy it in the flood. In short, it’s all the fault of angels. It’s much more interesti

Do you ever feel like you are just staring at a blank page? Writers might know what I am talking about - a page that is supposed to have a ton of writing on it but has nothing. Not the page of someone with writer’s block, but a page ready for the first word of your next novel. A page ready for the start of a new chapter. I was taunted by a blank page one night in seminary when I accidently deleted a ten page paper due the next day. For some reason I was unable to recover it,

I like how little things can make you smile and change your day, On my way to church Sunday, I stopped at a red light. A gentleman crossed in front of me pushing his young son in a stroller. The man did not acknowledge me at all, but halfway across the road the little boy raised his hand in that way drivers do to signal a casual “thank you” to another driver. It made me laugh the rest of the way to church. Our liturgy for a few weeks is focused on creation, so some of our rea

From the ELCA’s website: “‘God’s work. Our hands.’ Sunday is Sunday, September 8, 2019. This day is an opportunity to celebrate who we are as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – one church, freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor. Service activities offer an opportunity for us to explore one of our most basic convictions as Lutherans: that all of life in Jesus Christ – every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life – flows freely from a