Dec 22, 2025 | Advent, Christmas
The angel of the Lord appeared to the [wife of Manoah] and said to her, “You shall conceive and bear a son. It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” – Judges 13:3-5, excerpted (NRSV) We all long for a deliverer, at least once...
Nov 25, 2025 | Advent, Christmas, joy
Thus says the Lord: Again you shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. – Jeremiah 31:2a, 4b-5 (NRSV) I love...
Dec 29, 2024 | Advent, Christmas, mystery, nature
Praise the Lord! Praise God, sun and moon; praise God, all you shining stars! Praise God from the earth, you sea monsters and creatures of the depths, you fire and hail, snow and frost! (Psalm 148:1-2 & 7-8, NRSV adapted) What makes the T-Rex dinosaur a scientific...
Dec 28, 2021 | Christmas, lament, wholeness
Herod sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and...
Dec 28, 2020 | Christmas, nature
Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps; wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! – Psalm 148:7, 10 (NRSV) Listening to a 45 RPM vinyl as a child, I learned from the Irish Rovers why there are no unicorns in the...
Dec 27, 2020 | Christmas, comfort, peace, psalm
“Let there be rest for the weary, O God Most High, rest and peace to the brokenhearted, peace and pleasure for the despondent, and let freedom come like an angel to the earth.” So sing the stars and constellations, the leviathan from its depths and the...
