Throughout 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...
Read MoreBy Marc Lyon For the past few years I have served as a liturgist for the Vespers and All That Jazz service held on Sunday nights in Wightman Chapel. The service provides a sacred setting for jazz musicians and liturgists to offer music and share words...
Read MoreWe all want to tell our story. We all desire to be heard. We are each connected through the daunting process of seeking to understand one another and our world. So, we communicate. We talk, we listen. We argue, we ask questions. Sometimes, we have...
Read MoreRules dictate our lives. Do, don’t. Go, stop. Sit, stand. We live by the rules of our jobs, our families, our communities. Someone sets an expectation for us, and our days are filled with striving to meet it. The work of our lives is assessed...
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