There is a lot of heavy stuff in today’s reading; faith, sin, atonement, law, death, justification. The first thing that jumps out at me is the most important theological principle in the Lutheran tradition. Justification through faith.

Basically what that means is that it is God’s grace and forgiveness, which makes us acceptable to...

“The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (Jn.12:3)

Over these weeks of Lent, with our Wednesday soup suppers, I’ve been routinely preparing a soup to bring and share at our soup supper.

And as the soup simmers on the stove top in my home, how that aroma, that wonderful savoury smell of simmering soup fills the...

Imagine, if you will, that someone you love is having trouble breathing and you know it is serious. What do you do? You would seek medical attention. Perhaps you’re scared and worried. You see the fear and panic in the eyes of your loved one and those gathered around in love and support, no one is sure what to expect. The medical staff put...

An under-reported fact, in the immediate aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 – before the reactions, political analysis and military retaliation – something happened that was … remarkable.

People called home.

It was an automatic human response, erupting almost everywhere regardless of politics or religion.
...

Please, let us take a moment and think about what it means that Jesus laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.

When I was younger I was working as a delivery driver for a tool and die shop. One day while lifting a heavy load from the back of the van up onto the dock I tore the ligaments in my wrist. As a musician I was particularly...

Five years ago, life looked a whole lot different for me. Hilla and I were living in Ottawa with no children. We had coasted into town on a hope and a prayer, the van I traded for to get us there promptly died shortly after we moved into our apartment. She was a Music Director at a church and I was working as the Research Analyst Assistant to...

(Exodus 34, Luke 9)

I still remember some years ago, during a summer vacation, Patty and I were attending a worship service on a warm Sunday morning at a church nearby to where we were staying.

We were sitting in a pew near the back, so we had a good view of the back of everyone’s head.

There was a boy maybe six or seven years old, siting...

In this week’s readings, we are confronted repeatedly by the prophetic word of God through a variety of means. God speaks to and through people to teach us about the divine way, modeling for us how we are to live. This God speaking to and through us reminded me of a poem I read recently by Rainer Maria Rilke from his work the Book of...

So what does all of this mean? How might we to interpret this Gospel lesson? How does it relate to life for us today? 

A new student looks out on a sea of strange faces in the high school cafeteria,
… wondering where he should sit,
… which group he should join,
… how he will be received…

A woman walks down the hall in her empty house to look at her daughter’s bedroom,
… the bedroom contains pictures and souvenirs of...