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Anti Semitism and the Lutheran Church

This last April, 2018, my husband and I visited Wittenberg, Germany, part of the history of my Lutheran heritage. Wittenberg is a famous city to fans of Martin Luther, who posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg 501 years ago, on October 31, 1517. But as the news comes to us today telling us of a vicious killing of Jews in Pittsburg, PA, while they gathered for that most life-giving moment, the dedication of a child at his bris, my thoughts go to this piece of art, a memorial to the Jews which is erected at the base of the The Stadtkirche Sankt Marien or St. Mary’s Town and Parish Church . IMG_1324 Continue reading “Anti Semitism and the Lutheran Church”

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So Great a Cloud of Witnesses

This is our second anniversary displaying our Great Cloud of Witnesses – and so we post this blog again, to remind us of the richness we gain by reflection! – It started as an idea, picked up from the Lutheran church in Coos Bay, at an information sharing/collaborative meeting in Corvallis last year. The names of all those buried from our church. In a mobile. Hung in the sanctuary of the church for all to see. But why?

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A word from Saint James

James 4: 1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts.

Unvarnished Christian thought – that’s what James provides. James speaks like he knows those thoughts you and I manage to keep swept under the rug. He knows we sin. He knows we sin a lot. He knows we think about our sin a lot. He knows we think about other people’s sinning so that we don’t think about our own sin so much. Continue reading “A word from Saint James”

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Someone worth following

There’s a turning point in Mark’s gospel, in chapter 8 – “Who do people say that I am?”  – because after months of following Jesus, the disciples still needed a short course to figure out who it was they were following. And so, we listen in because we are people who often need to be reminded just why Jesus is someone worth following.
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