Pet Blessing worship service coming soon Back by popular demand, Rev. AJ will lead this special service soon to celebrate our pets. We invite members of the community to submit a short video or photo of you and your pet(s). If you submit a video, it may have no sound, or it may have a short introduction…
“There is a point, a line, where holding on becomes a problem. A point where wrestling causes- not goodness, but simply injury, where holding on by will and by force does not bring the blessing – but actually prevents it, or at least prevents you from experiencing the blessing…” –Rev. Gretchen Haley This is…
“Human beings have a hard time regarding anything beautiful without wanting to devour it.” —Barbara Brown Taylor I just watched the first season of the new HBO series “Julia” and I’m hooked. It’s a period piece and biopic featuring a regular middle-aged woman who (we know) will become the famous French chef Julia Child. Spoiler…
We are in the Christian season of Lent, which is a time of renewal, a time to let things go, a time to return the things we have borrowed or stolen. A time to admit to ourselves, “This isn’t who I am.” A time to wait. A time to awaken. A time to renew a…
The first thing I noticed when I arrived home in Wisconsin after Christmas was the silence. Although I live on a county highway, it is a lightly travelled road. The forest makes its own sound, of course, but it is a gentle breeze compared to the roar of the city. I love the sound of…
Someone said, “Joy is in us, waiting to hitch a ride on the first train to go by.” If that is true, Denton must be a very joyful place! From my apartment, at all times of the day and night, I love hearing the distant horn of the passing Union Pacific train. It’s far enough…
“re•gret (r-grt) 1. (Verb) To remember with a sense of sadness: Her son, a soldier, always said it is better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do. And there were nights when she would regret in the form of a list—regret not uttering I love you enough, regret not having been able…
I was watching a movie recently and two of the characters were having a disagreement. They argued back and forth, and then one of them said, “Look me in the eyes and say that!” The other person refused at first, but the command was repeated with emphasis: “Look me straight in the eyes!” Finally, the…
“When a caterpillar enters its chrysalis, it dissolves itself, quite literally, into liquid. In this state, what was a caterpillar and will be a butterfly is neither one nor the other, it’s a sort of living soup. Within this living soup are the imaginal cells that will catalyze its transformation into winged maturity. May the…
A six-year old once confided to me, “I’m afraid of the dark.” I was intrigued by the non sequitur, but humbled by the trusting confession. “So am I,” I said, “I think everyone is.” “No, I’m really afraid of the dark,” he repeated. Hmm, I thought. “Well, I live in the woods where the lights…