Author Archives: Pastor Catharine

February 20, 2023 I can’t believe Lent’s almost here!  It’s that time in the church year when we’re invited to reflect on Christ’s sacrificial love for us and sit in the profundity of that sacrifice. The Lenten journey starts with Ash Wednesday when we recall the stark truth of our own mortality.  “Remember that you are dust andContinue reading “Carrying the Cross: Have We Misunderstood?”

August 16, 2022 “Forgive them, Father. They don’t know what they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34) I am convinced that these are among the most powerful words ever spoken by our Lord.  They are words spoken from the cross.  Words spoken when the Lord felt most alone.  Words spoken when the Lord could see no obvious assuranceContinue reading “Quiet Eyes”

May 29, 2022 I have waited, watched, and listened as much as possible over the past couple of weeks, following the shootings at the Topps Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York, the shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, and now at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.   I have listened forContinue reading “Diagnosticians, Clinicians, and Cheerleaders”

May 8, 2022 Mother’s Day can be a very difficult time for many who have less than Hallmark moment ‘mom’ experiences in their own lives.   I know women who avoid church on ‘the day’ because it’s too painful: they either feel left out of the celebration or find it all to be a glorified sham,Continue reading ”   So Many Mothers!”

April 17, 2022 What happens when you know you need to say something…..but you don’t?   I mean, you have your reasons, right?   You don’t want to be judgey … or be judged.  What will people think?  What will people say? Sometimes speaking truth is a fearful thing… So, sometimes we say nothing… This is where the women in Mark’s gospelContinue reading “Co-opting Christ”

April 2, 2022 The struggle to fit in seems to be common to the human condition. No matter our physical, racial, sexual, relational, economic, social, employment, zip code or any other ‘fitting in’ criteria that might be out there, ‘fitting in’ is a struggle for everyone. The ’fat’ struggle to be skinny. The ‘skinny’ andContinue reading “Relax – You Fit!”

March 12, 2022 Wilderness.    A harsh place. An abandoned place. An uninhabited place. A neglected place. Throughout history, people have gone into the wilderness to ‘find themselves,’ to spend undistracted time examining their thoughts, testing their character, attending to those neglected parts of themselves in need of care.   Wilderness is the place where the ‘who’Continue reading “What the Wilderness Reveals”

February 26, 2022 Ecclesiastes 4:4-12; Isaiah 49:15-16 I have written about villages before.  Perhaps we’re familiar with the African proverb of Igbo and Yoruba origin that states:  it takes a village to raise a child.  The expression conjures up visions of family, friends, those and in our immediate relational community whose ‘assumed job’ it is to care.  TheyContinue reading “The Unexpected Pop-Up Village”

February 15, 2022 Ever looked in the mirror and decided you didn’t like what you see and wonder ‘how did this happen?’   Me, too.   Trust me. I know about these things…  I don’t eat tons of junk food like ‘some folks,’ but something’s going on…I don’t look like I use to….. It’s time to identifyContinue reading “Spiritual Weight Loss”

January 30, 2022 A few years ago, a congregant came up to me after worship and shared his struggle: “When we say the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, I can’t say all the words because I struggle to have faith in what those words say.” Recently, a friend shared that she “wants to have a deepContinue reading “The Worthy Struggle”