Author Archives: Pastor Catharine

February 7, 2021 In his meditation, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life, Henri Nouwen offered a powerful thought:  what seems a hindrance becomes a way;  what seems an obstacle becomes a door;  what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone.   Jesus changes our history  from a random series of sad incidents and accidents  intoContinue reading “When Obstacles Become Doors”

January 24, 2021 A couple of weeks ago – following the events of January 6, I blogged about the misuse of Jesus’ name teachings.  Last week, I blogged that Jesus isn’t our personal tribal leader because Christ came for all the world.   On January 20, President Biden called for a reclaiming of the soul of ourContinue reading “Reclaiming Truth”

            This past week, as so often happens in life, my devotional readings dove-tailed with the events going on in the world.               For the past several years, particularly in recent weeks, we have engaged in tribal language: our rights, our vaccine, our House, our voice, justice for us and on and on.  Curiously, we is never about all of us.  Our is never inclusive. Yours is always less important  than mine.  The consequence?  Destructive tribalism.  We all wantContinue reading “When Life Gets Tribal”

January 10, 2021 Epiphany: a sudden revelation or insight.   Epiphanies are typically life changing and, as in the case of the magi who visited the Christ child, such revelations can change us and lead us ‘home by another way.’ (Matthew 2:12) I was thinking about ‘epiphanies’ a lot on this past Wednesday, January 6, theContinue reading “A Personal Epiphany”

January 3, 2021 Pondering – gathering all possible information before reacting; considering the circumstances, the needs, the consequences of options, and discerning where God is calling us to be in the midst of it all. Reactivity – acting from a place of limited information, ego-centricity, self-preservation, and total disregard for any needful discerning of God’sContinue reading “The Gifts of Christmas: Pondering”

December 20, 2020 It’s hard to believe that we are in the last week of Advent; equally hard to believe that we are celebrating without carols, candles, communion, and fellowship with our friends and families.   I really miss doing all those ‘Christmas things’ we have always done.   This year has been and continues to beContinue reading “God’s Gifts at Christmas: 4. A Vision of Church”

December 13, 2020 Patience is a virtue – which makes me VERY unvirtuous as I have never been a patient person!  Patience also is a portion of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), so I know have a very long way to go in my journey of spiritual transformation!  This reality check was a realContinue reading “God’s Gifts at Christmas: 3. Patience”

I may be a bit slow out of the gate, but a bulb (Christmas bulb?) lit up in my brain recently.   One of God’s gifts at Christmas is the gift of choice and examples of how our choices affect not only our own lives but the lives of those around us.   We so blithely readContinue reading “God’s Gifts at Christmas: 2.Choice”

I have been watching The Crown on Netflix lately. Though I had already watched the first three seasons, I needed a refresher because I didn’t remember a whole lot! While watching this time, I noticed something I missed before: the intentional inaccessibility of the royals to the ‘common people.’   With the anointing by the Archbishop of Canterbury,Continue reading “God’s Gifts at Christmas: 1. Accessibility”

November 22, 2020 Someone recently remarked that perhaps we shouldn’t celebrate a new year before we have had the chance to see how it plays out; maybe we should celebrate the year after it proves itself – not before.  I f that were the case, 2020 would perhaps be the least celebrated year ever – butContinue reading “Thankfulness in 2020: Where, exactly?!”