Last Sunday I announced that I would be leading a new group that will meet before worship to spend some time with the scriptures we will be using from the Narrative Lectionary during worship this coming year. I shared that my plan was to use lectio divina to guide our time together, but I was reminded by a few people afterward that this term might not be as familiar as I was assuming it would be.  You mean not everyone spends their days swimming in religious jargon? Lectio divina is a Latin phrase that translates to “divine reading.” As a way of approaching scripture, it is much less concerned with a deep theological study of the text and more about reading with an intent to listen contemplatively for the Spirit speaking through the words, images, and stories. There is a lot of value in deep study and the ways it

The writer David Whyte says “Self-knowledge includes the understanding that the self we want to know is about to disappear.” – from his book Consolations, p. 200  This was part of a short essay the new CMC Transitions and Ritual group reflected on last evening as we met for the opening mini-retreat of a two-month process.  Whyte’s point is that there is no stagnant self to know.  We are, he suggests, “a frontier between what is known and what is not known.” As soon as we bring an unknown part of us into clearer knowing, something else forms within the unknown to reestablish the frontier. This all rings true to me, and the group last evening.  Still, there are gifts given along the way, often in the form of images and metaphors, that aid us.  Like Moses at the burning bush, invited to become, like the bush, aflame with God

Today is the first day of school for Columbus City Schools.  Some other local districts are already in their second week. Today also happens to be my dad’s birthday.  Which has me thinking about how knowledge, culture, wisdom, responsibility, and love are passed from one generation to another. Schooling is such a big part of this.  We release our kids to teachers who have dedicated their professional lives to helping shape our children.  In our nuclear family centered way of life, it’s a bit of a relief to have help from the village.  Thank you teachers for all you do. Congregations too are part of the village.  Even something as simple as being greeted by name by non-related adults can have a significant impact on children’s sense of belonging and empathy to others. The much-loved Prayer of St. Francis begins “Make me a channel of your peace.”  Thinking generationally, we

Like other Christians around the world, we regularly follow the Revised Common Lectionary, a set of scriptural readings throughout the liturgical year.  This provides many benefits, but a disadvantage is that it tends to jump around the biblical story.  It makes it difficult to get a sense of how parts fit together into a whole. Enter the Narrative Lectionary.     Begun in 2010 as a project of two professors at Luther Seminary, the Narrative Lectionary follows the story of scripture from Genesis to Revelation.  It’s hard to cover the whole Bible in a year of Sundays, so there are four different annual cycles, each covering the full story, doing so with different selected scriptures each year.  The cycles run like the school year, beginning in September after Labor Day until around Memorial Day, leaving the summer open for other themes. Worship Commission has decided to give this a whirl.  Starting

In case you missed it, Gwen is on Sabbatical.  Or more accurately, a three week mini-Sabbatical.  Gwen has worked for the church 17 years and in 2012 stepped into the role of full time Office Administrator.  Since that time she has become increasingly integral in supporting commissions and Leadership Team and is now appropriately titled “Church Administrator.” Gwen is keen on details while seeing the big picture.  She gets stuff done while being open for conversation with folks coming through the church.  She is both practical and an ideas person.  Gwen has been a go-to collaborator for me the whole time I’ve been at CMC.  And she’s fun to work with.       It’s rare for administrators to get Sabbaticals, even short ones, but this was fully affirmed by Leadership Team.  Like pastoral Sabbaticals, Gwen receives full pay and benefits during this period without spending down vacation days.  The bulk of