Sandals is a word that brings to mind both contemporary and historic visions of light, strappy footwear. In our contemporary world, sandals mean summer, warmer weather, the act of being able to expose our feet to weather and sunshine, maybe in some cheerful bright color. Sandal wearing signifies the retreat of winter and [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘Weekly Word’
June 26, 2008
The Weekly Word for June 27 is POMEGRANATE
A pomegranate is a lumpy red fruit with hundreds of seeds inside it, each seed enclosed by a bright-red capsule of tangy, sweet juice. Eliot and I always used to buy a pomegranate or two at Thanksgiving to dress up the fruit bowl in the middle of the table, and the children used to like [...]
June 16, 2008
The Weekly Word for June 18 is OFFERING
Offering can be defined as (1) something offered in worship or devotion; (2) a contribution given to or through the church for a particular purpose, as at a religious service; or (3) anything offered as a gift. All these definitions seem to be particularly appropriate when thinking about offerings in relationship to God and to [...]
June 11, 2008
The Weekly Word for June ll is Fear of the Lord
Contemporary mystic Annie Dillard writes this about Sunday worship: “Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke?…we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offence, or [...]
May 23, 2008
The Weekly Word for May 21 is COMMUNITY
Over the years I have come to realize the importance of community. When we first moved to our current neighborhood, it was years before we met any of our neighbors. Then when I joined the fire department, I was suddenly in the middle of the community. I learned who was related to whom, [...]
April 29, 2008
The Weekly Word for April 30 is GLORY
Just the other morning, the view through our east-facing living room window was a luminous montage of blooming branches – red bud, dogwood, viburnum, the last of the forsythia – woven through with the tender green of new leaves, all sparkling with dew and back-lit by the newly risen sun. Goldfinches, blue jays, purple [...]
April 18, 2008
The Weekly Word for April 18 is BAPTISM
Some folks go for sprinklin’
Let fall a drop or two
Others stick to dunkin’
Half-under just won’t do
Some think it’s a firewall
Against the flames of sin
‘Round here, it’s a portal
Through which we’re welcomed in
From the earliest days of the Church, Baptism has remained the primary ritual by which believers enter into the mysteries of Christ (and incidentally) [...]
November 22, 2007
The Weekly Word for November 20 is DOMINION
Troublesome word: dominion.
It shows up early in the story of God’s people (*). We’ve used its appearance there to excuse all sorts of destructive human behavior, from the capriciousness of rulers exercising their ‘divine right’ to the systematic exploitation of our home planet’s un-renewable resources. Was it really God’s intention in handing us the [...]
November 21, 2007
The Weekly Word for November 13 is JESUS
On the way into Nashville, on a sign nailed to a tree: REMEMBER JESUS
Good advice, and in a good spot. We’re playing catch-up ball over at St. David’s this week. We’re in the middle of our annual Stewardship Campaign and also taking our first steps towards creating a Master Plan for the church’s property and [...]
November 21, 2007
The Weekly Word for November 7 is SERVICE
No, wait – that was the Weekly Word on October 2. We made a mistake. SERVICE got on to our word list twice and nobody caught it before we sent the list to the Democrat.
How about this?
The Weekly Word for November 7 is MISTAKES
I remember, maybe thirty years ago, having a little time to [...]
