Category Archives: Uncategorized

Lent is just around the corner. Our annual season of preparation for Easter begins on February 17, Ash Wednesday. Since the covid test numbers aren’t yet low enough for us to meet in person, we’ll gather for worship online.  The biggest question about Ash Wednesday online seems to be: What about ashes? This year, asContinue reading “Weekly Lifelines 2/11/2021”

Last night a group of St. Lukans gathered for the first of our mission discernment meetings. I was nervous, but to my absolute delight the conversation was incredible—fun, interesting, and uplifting. Honestly, I left the meeting with a bit of a glow.   We used a process called “asset mapping” which felt a little bitContinue reading “Weekly Lifelines 2/4/2020”

As I was sitting down to write, this famous poem-prayer by Thomas Merton sprang to mind: My Lord God,I have no idea where I am going.I do not see the road ahead of me.I cannot know for certain where it will end.nor do I really know myself,and the fact that I think I am followingContinue reading “Weekly Lifelines 1/28/2020”

I got tested for covid last week. For most of Thursday, I’d been pretending that the scratch in the back of my throat was just dehydration. But with the afternoon’s in-person meeting drawing closer, I couldn’t deny it any longer.   I t really seemed like it was just a cold, brought home from daycareContinue reading “Weekly Lifelines 1/21/2021”

I wonder how history will remember the events of the last ten days. As momentous and tragic? Perhaps as the watershed moment when everything changed? I hope to live long enough to see what history makes of this. But even more than that, I’m interested in how we make sense of it right now.  Continue reading “Weekly Lifelines 1/14/2020”

It’s been a tough one, this year. From pandemic to protests, social distancing to shelter-in-place, outdoor worship to church online, we’ve made it through challenge after challenge after challenge. Honestly, I’m worn out on it. Like literally every other human being on the planet, I’m ready for this to end. Ready to get back toContinue reading “Weekly Lifelines 12/24/2020”

I’ve got three important items to to bring to your attention today: First, a little while ago, Paul Ehling, St. Luke’s ministry intern, asked me if he could share some poetry on the Lifelines during Advent. It sounds like a great idea to me and so, rather than write my own long piece this week,Continue reading “Weekly Lifelines 12/3/2020”

Years ago, I started keeping a little journal. Every night, just before I close my eyes for sleep, I write a few thoughts in it. After I pause to breathe in God’s presence, I reflect on the day just past in three questions: What brought me joy today? What felt heavy? What would I likeContinue reading “Weekly Lifelines 11/25/2020”

The decision hate the most is the one about canceling church. Until this spring, I’ve made that decision just a handful of times in the last ten years. It’s always a relief when Sunday’s sunrise reveals a huge amount of snow and justifies the decision.Although I’m grateful for the tacit affirmation that canceling our in-personContinue reading “Weekly Lifelines 11/19/2020”

It’s not at all what I expected from a nearly-unmoving, grainy video of a small seminary conference: Every time I’ve watched this, I’ve been moved to tears. Every time. Kara Root, the pastor of Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church, spoke at the 2017 Rethinking Church conference at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. In her presentation, sheContinue reading “Weekly Lifelines 11/12/2020”