Tag: Shalom
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Sundays After Pentecost, Year A, 2023 – Gospel Passage: Living out love & peace with those around you
If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.” (Matthew 18:15) This verse always reminds me of my step-father. He had been at one time a deacon in the church I…
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Season After Pentecost / Ordinary Time, Yr C, 2022: Old Testament Passage – Living well and wisely
“These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” (Jeremiah 29:1) Jeremiah had said that Babylon would come into Jerusalem and virtually empty…
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Third Sunday of Advent, Yr C, 2021: Old Testament Passage – The comfort of Advent
“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” (Zephaniah 3:14) I like this prophet. In the first two chapters of this book he scolds. But there is mercy and redemption that the Divine will deliver. At the time they were written, perhaps it was not…
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Sundays After Pentecost, Yr B, 2021: Psalm Passage – Preacher & Seeker talk about unity in light of the passages this week
Preacher: “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” Seeker: If King David write this, I wonder if he was thinking about his early life in the court of King Saul when the king threw a spear at him. Maybe reflecting on his hope that he and King Saul would…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 17 [22]): The Epistle Passage – Preacher and Seeker read Paul out loud
Preacher:“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” Seeker: If you must compete, beloved listener, with you brother and sister – let it be a competition of caring, a race to show compassion, a contest of warm…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 16 [21]): The Psalm Passage – A Preacher and Seeker dialog dedicated to those who stand for peace and compassion
Preacher: “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side — let Israel now say – “ Seeker: If the Lord God had not been standing with us . . . Preacher: “ . . . if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when our enemies attacked…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 15 [20]): The Psalm Passage – Seek and treasure harmony where you find it
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 13 [18]): The Epistles Passage – Mapping some slippery slopes with Paul
“I am speaking the truth in Christ–I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit– “ (Romans 9:1) Call me a skeptic of long running, but many times when someone tells me they are speaking the truth, I prick me ears up and discern whether they are really lying. Maybe it is…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 13 [18]): The Old Testament Passage – Jacob on the road to a new life
“The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.” (Genesis 32: 22 -23) Jacob was going home. He had wives and children, livestock and…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 12 [17]): The Psalm Passage – Wrestling with the Psalms, of all things!
Do you remember, beloved reader, from back on Tuesday when we talked about how Jacob had treated his brother Esau, and deceived his father? And he, Jacob, was deceived by his uncle, his mother’s brother? And the week before, we talked about Jacob and his dream of the ladder up to heaven, and God giving…
A Simple Desire 