‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent, and believe in the good news!’ These are the very first words that Jesus is reported saying in the gospel according to Mark. We hear about Jesus in the verses leading up to today’s gospel story – and it has to […]
The Bible is full of interesting and multi-layered characters. The vast majority of them are not perfect – they are all human, after all, so why would they be? And wouldn’t perfection be boring? At least when it comes to storytelling? I am grabbed by one of the characters of our lesson from the […]
The Jordan River is not one of the mighty rivers of this world. Compared to other rivers, it is tiny: it’s merely 156 miles long and 60 feet across at its widest. It’s fairly shallow: its deepest point is about 17 feet. It’s never been navigable. It is formed by tributaries in the mountains […]
I want you to think back exactly one year, to the beginning of January 2020. What were your expectations for that year? What were your plans for that brand new year? I remember that, in January 2020, my husband Fred and I were seriously planning a trip to Spain, which was supposed to happen […]
This is the season of holiday songs. There are certain radio stations here in the Bay Area that have played nothing but holiday songs for weeks now. What is your favorite Christmas song – or carol? That may be a tough question – I have to think hard about it, there are so many […]
The gospel according to Mark stands out among the gospel accounts we have in our Bible. It is the one gospel story that cuts right to the chase. No mention of Mary and Joseph or any other of Jesus’ relatives, no birth story, no stories from Jesus’ childhood – no, after a one sentence […]
I love the Advent season. It’s my favorite church season of the year. Always has been. When I was a child, Advent was this time of joyful and festive anticipation, a time of excited waiting. It was the countdown to Christmas! There would be decorations and lights everywhere as the days were […]
Today, I want to tell you a story about hope, faith, and love. Years ago, in my previous congregation, a young woman came in during office hours. I could tell she was agitated, even desperate. And so we sat down, and she started talking. ‘My car broke down, and I need […]
‘Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?’ We heard these words just a few moments ago. They come from the book of Amos, one of the prophets in the Old Testament, and those are not necessarily words I would choose as words of comfort, […]
Katie Luther enters with a rag covering her face and some smoking herbs in her hand. She tiredly takes the face covering off and starts her monologue. Ah, dear people! What times we live in! The plague is back in town. People are getting sick, people are dying. All we can do is try […]
‘It is God’s world after all’ In the early 60s, Walt Disney manufactured an attraction for the 1964 World Fair in New York with the working title ‘Children of the World’. He tasked the famous Sherman brothers to write a song especially for this attraction – and to come up with a simple […]
I just finished reading a book, and it was one of the best books I’ve read in a while. This book isn’t just entertaining and a page turner, no, it made me think, it surprised me, it even made me cry a little – but mostly, it gave me hope. This book it called […]
I want to share a personal story with you that happened when I was in the second grade. I always loved to read, I started reading even before I entered elementary school, and I was the best reader in the classroom – together with Stefan Lohwasser, he loved to read as much as I […]
I don’t know about you, but for me, one day blurs into another as we continue to deal with the pandemic. And I often have to remind myself: what day is it now? But this past week, one date stood out, and I’m sure not only for me: 9/11. 9/11. This date has become […]
As you may know, I recently got back from a three week stay in Germany. And though the primary reason for my trip was to visit with my ailing mom, and I still worked while in Germany, and Germany is dealing with a surge of Corona cases (though I have to say that Germany’s […]
‘I’m just a soul whose intentions are good – o Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood.’ You may know this song – it was made famous by the group ‘The Animals’ in 1965, although soul singer Nina Simone first recorded it in 1964. This song, this line came to my mind when I […]
Have faith! Has anyone ever said this to you, just have faith, it will turn out alright? I usually hear these words when I call Philomena, Dorothy, or Lore. Pastor, we just need to have faith. And I am grateful to hear these words, for even a pastor needs reassurance once in a […]
Here in California, we know something about waves. We have this amazing coastline, our entire Western border is the mighty Pacific. I love the ocean. I love the sound of waves crashing. I love that there is always movement in the ocean, even on calm days. Wave after wave after wave breaks on the […]
‘God’s gonna trouble the water.’ This line in the African American spiritual ‘Wade in the Water’ refers to a passage in the gospel according to John, where we hear the story about Jesus healing a sick man at the pool of Bethzatha. Here we have a verse that is often omitted from contemporary Bible […]
If this was a year like any other, my husband Fred would be following the baseball season right now – morning, noon, and night – and especially his favorite team, the SF Giants. But then, of course, this isn’t a year like any other, and big time sports in this country have been basically […]
