“God abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey” - John H. Sammis, 1887 Remember the story of Queen Esther. A young Jewish woman in the court of a mighty king who had to make a very difficult decision – Do I save...
Read MoreOne of the best songs from show/movie South Pacific is this one by Rodgers & Hammerstein: “You’ve got to be carefully taught to hate and fear, You’ve got to be taught from year to year, It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear You’ve got to be...
Read Morefour days before the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima August 2015, by Chance Chambers Ichi purgation I’ve never let go of anything. Napkin starship blueprints, pink guitar picks from 1993, my mother’s voicemail greeting from this side of the ether. It’s all there among my unpacked ruins, static in...
Read MoreThroughout our lives we have been told to “Listen.” Perhaps it was our mother, teacher, spouse, friend, or even the public media trying to sell us something. In every case we were/are told to listen to the message addressed to us. The scriptures also tell...
Read MoreAs summer moves into fall we experience some of the natural mysterious of God’s creation – leaves changing color, plants and animals drawing into themselves and preparing for the winter, water developing a thin layer of ice in the early morning, etc. Within our souls...
Read More“Conflict about how to see and read the Bible is the single greatest issue dividing Christians in North America today” says Marcus Borg in his book Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. The conflict centers in questions regarding the origins of the Bible,...
Read More“Poetry evokes what is good, beautiful and true. It imagines the unimaginable, describes the indefinable, and unveils what our senses cannot know or our intellect figure out. Poetry is theology leaping out of the file cabinet and into the heart. It is words that stir...
Read MoreBy Caroline McReynolds-Adams It is hard to believe that August is upon us. Summer is on its way out making room for new beginnings. School is starting back up, vacations are over, and most of us return to the more consistent, stable (albeit often busier) lifestyle...
Read MoreEach Sunday evening there is a Vespers & All That Jazz Service here at Scarritt Bennett Center. It is a contemplative worship service with jazz music the focus of the service. A valid question that many ask is: “Why do you have jazz music in...
Read More“Compassion is Hard Work” Text: Matthew 9:35-36 Compassion is an interesting and difficult word for Christians. It means “suffering with” or literally “to let one’s innards embrace the feeling or situation of another.” This is much more than love, mercy or pity. It is a word...
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