This is an Advent reflection I wrote for last year’s December newsletter.

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
    on them light has shined. 

Isaiah 9:1

When I was in middle school, my family took a vacation to the Wisconsin Dells.  It was a blast – we went on the duck boats and ate delicious fudge and had a great time.  But one of the things I remember most from the trip was the visit we took to Crystal Cave. 

 I was a nerdy child with an interest in geology, so I was already excited to see the cave, which goes down over 70 feet below the surface of the earth.  When we got down to the deepest, darkest part of the cave, our guide told us to stand still where we were and warned us not to move.  Then he turned off the light.  In an instant, the whole world blinked out of view.  There was not a scintilla of light; it was darker than dark down there.  I couldn’t even see my own hand when I waved it inches in front of my face!  

Then there was a rasping sound in the darkness, and suddenly light exploded into being, reflected and refracted by the thousands of crystals that festooned the cavern’s walls.  It was gloriously beautiful.  I looked to see where the light was coming from, and saw our guide holding it in his hand.  He had struck a single match.  That tiny light was enough to light up what felt like the whole world.

This, in a nutshell, is Advent.

It occurred to me as I was working on an article for my congregation’s December newsletter that I could be more diligent about posting some of my non-sermon writings on here. A lot of what I write is still church-related, though not all. And I plan to start sharing more of it in the hopes that it will be meaningful for other folks to read.

In that interest, here’s a post I wrote a couple of months ago for the Nebraska Synod’s blog — I was asked to write about the theme of “walking together.” Enjoy!

For about the last year, I have been worshiping with the community of St. Luke’s Lutheran of Logan Square — on the Sundays I haven’t been preaching elsewhere, of course.  I chose St. Luke’s because they are a vibrant and visionary community that had the courage to sell their building and open up shop in a storefront, and because of their deep commitment to social justice — and also, largely, to “low-key stalk” my dear friend Erin while she completed her internship year there.

Anyhoo, one of the neat things St. Luke’s does is to engage the congregation in a regular practice of testimony, often inviting laypeople to prepare testimonies from their own lives around a certain theme to read in worship.  This past Sunday was my last Sunday at St. Luke’s before I move to New Mexico for internship (by the way, I’m moving to New Mexico for internship — forgot to make that announcement!).  It seemed incredibly fitting that I should answer a question about experiencing God in the desert before embarking on a literal journey to a literal desert.

My testimony was related to the Hebrew Testament reading — Genesis 21:8-21 — in which Hagar and her son Ishmael are kicked out into the desert by Abraham’s wife Sarah.  I was asked to respond to the question, “When was a time when you experienced God/good news in a place of isolation, abandonment, death?”  This is what I wrote:

Continue reading “Wells in the Wilderness” →

Inspired by Evi’s blog to do some images with quotes.

In the English conversation groups I facilitate throughout the week, I often have students draw questions out of a bowl in order to spark conversation and just have fun.  Everyone in the circle — including me — goes around and takes a turn to answer each question, which may be about their pets or their hobbies or about fun trips they took, and so on.  During one class, someone drew the question, “What is your philosophy of life?”  It certainly sparked a lively discussion, and while there were many interesting answers (some more profound than others), this was mine:  to always be kind.