“Follow me.” “Feed my sheep.” “Tell the good news to everyone. Be my witnesses.” “I’m going to prepare a place for you. I’ll be back.” The setting is not Jerusalem. It’s not Galilee. And the audience is not the disciples. The speaker is not really even Jesus. I was sitting in the back row of…
… As We Forgive Our Debtors
“Mrs. DeKruif, I was totally disrespectful this morning when you asked me for an excuse note from my mom. You were just doing your job and I got angry. It was wrong for me to talk to you the way I did. I will never talk to you like that again. Are you willing to…
Doing Hard Things Well
“The difficulty of a person’s job can be measured by the number of relationships that must be maintained.” A former boss of mine would always remind me of that when I asked him for advice on how to handle a certain teacher or employee. As you can tell, my boss and I were both introverts. …
Dear Mom …
I am a letter writer. I send cards that are handwritten, sometimes in neat cursive penmanship and sometimes in bold printed capitalized letters; it depends on how much I have to say and what kind of message I want to send. I use paper, pen, and stamps. I’ve had English courses and creative writing classes,…
“Let’s Go!”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby. Luke provides the details of the first coming of Jesus, the coming we celebrate at Christmas. I wonder what it was like for the shepherds….
Delivering Dry Mail
“How does your faith make a difference in your workplace?” Sitting around the table with me was a public school teacher, a chemist, a retired engineer, a stay-at-home mom, a pharmacist, a nurse, a doctor, and a few others. The adult class met after church to discuss a small booklet entitled, “Faith @ Work.” We…
The Circle of “Eternal” Life
“Larry, please tell the congregation what you’re grateful for this morning.” Those were the words written in my copy of the morning’s order of worship. When Joan reminded me, earlier in the week, that I was scheduled to be liturgist on Sunday, my first thought was, “Oh crap. I need to be grateful again?” I…
Shoulder Taps and Head Whacks
I started my career in education as a high school math teacher. My first job was in a small Christian school in the small Minnesota town of Prinsburg. I taught and coached there for seven years. I wanted to go back to school for my masters degree in order to earn really big bucks and…
What Do YOU Want?
The cashier at the grocery store: “Did you find everything you wanted?” The waitress at the restaurant: “What can I get for you tonight?” The concierge at the hotel: “How can I help you today?” The genie in the bottle: “You have three wishes. “Your wish is my command.” Can you imagine being asked those…
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