Empathy, Vulnerability, and Immanuel
Joanne Gallardo
Back when I worked as a case manager, Brene Brown came into my consciousness with her work on empathy. Empathy was talked about so much in our social work circles, in fact, that we often made jokes about it. Empathy is a learned skill, we were told. Empathy is learning another’s world view. As Brene […]
Good, Fallen, Redeemed
Dan Schrock
The other day I went grocery shopping at Kroger. Into my cart went strawberries and a pineapple, carrots and broccoli, onions and garlic, dried small red beans, oatmeal, milk and yogurt, and a score of other food stuffs in bags, packages, cans, and cartons. I’ve shopped at Kroger for about 27 years, and when I […]
Come and See
Mark Schloneger
I have climbed the highest mountains I have run through the fields Only to be with you Only to be with you. I have run, I have crawled I have scaled these city walls These city walls Only to be with you But I still haven’t found What I’m looking for. But I still haven’t […]
Where the Dove Went
Mark Schloneger
“Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all. (Emily Dickinson) Genesis, chapter 1. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of […]
Stars, Signs and Salvation
Joanne Gallardo
We and the church have both, collectively, made it another year. While technically the new decade starts in 2021 people are talking about this year, 2020, as a brand-new page in our history. One of the many big things about 2020 is that it’s an election year, a big one. In a few months, and […]
The Other Half of the Story
Dan Schrock
For the last twenty years, I’ve read the New York Times nearly every day. It’s not my only source of news, but it has been my main source of news. I don’t read the whole paper every day because that would take too long. Instead I generally focus on national and international news, along with […]
A Vulnerable God
Dan Schrock
I once led a retreat for a small group of Christians. I began the retreat by asking them to sit quietly for a moment and identify the main image for God which they carried around in their heads. After a few minutes of silence, each person went around the circle and shared with us their […]
You, turn.
Mark Schloneger
So, how are you? I expected that tepid response, so I came prepared to not only ask the question but to provide your answers: I’m fine. Getting along. Busy busy. Doing well. I’m here. Causin’ trouble. Just great. Fair to middlin’. Keeping warm. Couldn’t be better. Can’t complain. Still alive. If there is any other […]
Are we there yet?
Joanne Gallardo
I can’t get enough of apocalyptic Christianity. I think this may be about the fact that the Bible says that the day and the hour of the end of days is unknown, and yet so many people are so anxious about it they predict it. And while that sort of “end-times” prophecy may seem to […]
The Spirituality of the Blues
Mark Schloneger
(Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, Bessie Smith)[1] Nobody knows you when you’re down and out. That song is by Bessie Smith, nicknamed The Empress of the Blues, one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920’s and 30’s. I listened to the blues as I prepared this message. That’s because I […]
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