This story juxtaposes dramatically with last week’s leper who says to Jesus “If you will, you can make me clean.” Here, the friends say “we will!” and get rather hands-on to prove the point. The emphasis is on our own faith and therefore on our actions rather than on our ability to persuade God to act. Which is probably a good place to be as we approach Lent.
My sister phoned me the other day. She is 10 years older than I am and although we are both seniors, to her, I am her “baby sister.”
Last week we had three foggy days in a row. Now I know in some parts of the world, that would be a completely normal weather pattern, but here on the prairies, I’m guessing it would be more average to have 1 day in a winter (or 2 at the most) with fog and hoarfrost. The first day was Wednesday.
There are 32 verses in the book of Leviticus to contend with, and Jesus just hopped over all of them. Maybe by sending him to the priest, Jesus was trying to ease the leper’s re-entry into society
It was a bright and cheery morning and we were all collected around the table of a much loved acquaintance…we had been doing this each Saturday morning for years. My friend has Parkinson’s and we try each week to bring her a bit of the past and the present in our remembrances and our togetherness.
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Lent begins on February 22nd this year – close enough that we might start thinking about it and far enough away that planning is still possible. Last year, I gave you a list of Lent readings and an idea, but this year the plot is a little more straight forward.
I wandered down to the basement bedroom and looked at what was left… a messed up bed and a playpen in one corner. But memories flitted through my head.
Society is really good at making us worry. And stressed and depressed and all-over anxious. And, of course, by society I mean all of us. Psalm 111 works against all that. The Psalmist takes you by the shoulders and shakes until you wake up sane.
We’ve been neighbours for 20 years. Sadly, I watch her husky sons load the truck as they haul their mother’s furniture to her new apartment.
Sometimes lectionary floors me. The juxtaposition of passages can be brilliant or bizarre – and when I saw what was slotted for this coming week, I had to laugh. From poor old post-whale Jonah to fishers of men…
It always amazes me that the children you bear can be so terribly different. Delightful but different.
I’ve been getting a lot of donations recently from the congregation – crafty things for the Sunday School. Each Sunday, I seem to come home with more plastic bags of squishy things to be sorted through.
My hip surgery was behind me, my recovery going very well and the sun which had only shone seven days out of 31 last month was finally shinning brilliantly.
Ten years ago, the Spouse surprised me with a ring. New Year’s Eve, the night of high romance and optimism, and we were already engaged.
I woke up gradually and saw the face of my youngest daughter gazing at me rather anxiously. My hip surgery was over and now it was time to get back to the real world.
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The space above our table is perfect for our advent calendar. I mentioned earlier that we might make one, and this is what we came up with.
Many of us have experienced the let-down when the theatre play is over. It’s natural. For a while we are caught up in the movement, the story and sometimes the music and then it is done.
This past week, I was hit by love three times.
The first happened when I was at the school near our church. I was popping in for a visit, after setting up some crafts at the church, and I had my huge messenger bag over my shoulder. I have a collection of buttons pinned there, and one of them is a drawing of an anatomical heart.