Category: Devotional
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You are Favored
I’ve read these scripture passages, probably hundreds of times. This week, I noticed something new. This week, I noticed that when the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary, to tell her about her upcoming pregnancy, the scriptures say that Mary was “shaken” by the angel’s words. Other translations use the word “perplexed.” Mary is shaken not by the presence of…
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Peace
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled,…
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Critical Race Theory: Nothing to Fear
I only remember having one conversation with my father about race. When his enlistment in the United States Marine Corps was complete, he returned home to Minneapolis, found work, and married my mom. As a veteran, he was eligible for benefits that included the GI Bill, which he used to purchase their first home. Mom and dad…
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Remember the Why
Several years ago, the youth group from the congregation I was serving was on a Habitat for Humanity work site in Louisville, Kentucky. We were working on a home for a single mom and her three children. It was hot, sweaty, dirty work, and as the week progressed, our work team’s pace slowed significantly. There was a…
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Choose to Trust
Our community is built on trust. We trust that our neighbors are going to look out for us. We trust that when our light at the intersection turns green, the light for the cross-street will turn red. We trust that our educators have nothing but the best interest of our kids in mind. We trust…
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The Spirit Works Every Day
Christian churches around the world will gather this weekend to celebrate the Festival of Pentecost. Pentecost is the day that we celebrate the gift of God’s Holy Spirit to the people of God, who were drawn together to form Christ’s church. That first Pentecost was not a quiet event. Inside a house filled with people, the wind…
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Signs
As I write this, we have daffodils blooming in our garden and the crocus plants are popping up out of the ground in front of our home. It’s a sign of spring. As I write this, our middle-school and high school students are back together in the school building, all together, for the first time…in a…
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Let the Dog Out
I have a recurring task set up on my computer’s “to-do” program for noon, every Tuesday. At that time, I get a reminder that pops up on my screen that says “Let the Dog Out.” On Tuesdays, before the pandemic, Lori would go all day to the Twin Cities for her work. And because we…
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Breath of Life
We do it without even thinking about it. Somewhere between 12 and 16 times a minute, our chest contracts and then expands, and our lungs fill with air. The lungs extract oxygen, which our body uses to pump our blood, move our limbs, and power our thoughts. We do this over and over, from birth,…
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One Day…
One day, this will all be over. The majority of people will have received the vaccine, and we will again be free to sit close to each other, to take our masks off, and to shelve the term “socially distance.” I’m not sure when yet, but it will happen. One day. One day, this will…