These past few weeks our nation has observed and celebrated its 250th anniversary! Numerous expressions of celebration have been held. Numerous events have been held. People celebrated various aspects of this nation’s history. Interestingly, certain of our current nation’s leaders have, and still are, advocating for the elimination of certain factual components of America’s history. […]
religion
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A summer of hope and action
This summer, as tensions rise along with the temperature and the persistent deep divisions in our country give rise to a sense of hopelessness in some quarters, there are those bringing renewed hope and purpose across this land. Young Baha’is, along with their friends from numerous faith traditions, backgrounds and ethnicities, are spending their school […]
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Restoration – not just reparations
The Gospel of Luke relates an incident where a tax collector encountered Jesus and vowed to “restore” up to fourfold and unjust “taxes” that he may have taken from anyone. That proposal would require (1) the offended person to confirm the “unjust tax,” and (2) that person being “restored” four times that amount. In 1450, […]
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Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah
The Memorial Day weekend is a time when we remember and honor the dedication and sacrifice of those who gave their lives in the service of our country. Coincidentally, this past weekend observant Christians and Jews both marked special occasions on their respective religious calendars. Jews, this past Friday and Saturday, observed the festival of […]
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Composing a life
The first Mother’s Day sermon I preached following the birth of our son Paul was a momentous occasion for me. I remember sharing that as a woman pastor I sometimes used the metaphor of “giving birth” for writing or composing a sermon. After the experience of labor, I wanted to set the record straight. There […]
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The truth about a lie
I greet you in the morning as your thoughts begin to form. I nestle in your feelings – subtle – as if I am the norm. You may not sense my presence, as morn to night goes by – I have that subtle power – after all, I’m just a lie. I fill your mind […]
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The Baha’i festival of Ridvan
The Baha’i Festival of Ridvan (pronounced Rez-vahn) is the holiest season of the Baha’i year. Beginning at sunset on April 20 and ending at sunset May 2, this 12-day period commemorates the time in 1863, when Baha’u’llah sojourned along with family and followers in the Najibiyyih Garden, situated on an island in the Tigris River. […]
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Bar and bat mitzvah – marking the passage to adulthood
Next month I will be marking my 83rd birthday and the 70th anniversary of my bar mitzvah, the ceremony in Judaism marking a young person’s passage to adulthood. In recent times, some Jewish men of my generation, on reaching the age of 83, have been celebrating a second bar mitzvah. Psalm 90 notes that “the […]
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Power – A capitalistic cancer
Something about “power,” in whatever form, or source, from which it may come or exist, can cause great things to happen. When God stood out on the banisters of nothingness and declared, “Let there be …,” no greater power in heaven nor on Earth could have ever been affirmed. Even since that time the essence […]
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The promise of one world
We all know what a time waster surfing the internet can be yet, occasionally, something pops up which illustrates a truth, simply but profoundly. Sometime during the past year, I came upon such a story. It goes something like this. Somewhere in the U.S., a middle-aged man is standing in the checkout line at a […]
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The Passover Seder is an occasion for worship, storytelling and feasting
Before turning my attention to our Jewish festival of Passover, which will begin this year at sunset on Wednesday, April 1, I want to acknowledge the wonderful experience I recently had as a guest speaker at the motherhouse of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. In conjunction with the Lenten season and in anticipation of […]
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Reading the Bible through Jesus’ eyes
You may often hear how important it is for U.S. citizens to return to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights so we don’t lose sight of the wise but imperfect aspirations that birthed our nation into being. Equally for Christians, reading and praying with scripture keeps us grounded in the […]
