Spirituality

Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Deacon Cynthia Z. Biddlecomb,
M.Div. (ELCA)

Perhaps the best example of forgiveness and reconciliation is Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15. After squandering his inheritance on dissolute living, the renegade son finds himself impoverished and starving. Distraught, he decides he must humble himself and return to his father; he realizes that he would have food to eat as even a lowly servant Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Please … just leave my old bones alone.

I was watching a BBC Timestamp Youtube video the other day in which they were excavating a medieval church in England, uncovering the skeleton of someone who had a chalice buried with him—apparently a priest. Poor guy; he probably thought he’d be undisturbed until the general resurrection that Christians anticipate. Nope.

It’s odd that while people are incensed if it’s requested that the body of a relative be exhumed, yet we dig up long-dead bodies almost without qualm. Certainly we understand the fascination of how people lived in the Read More

Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Deacon Amy Schmuck
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:12-13 (NIV)

This article marks the third Sunday of the Christian season of Lent, Read More

Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By The Rev. Lynn M. Finnegan
Associate Rector
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith

In the documentary series, Alone, ten individuals are taken to a remote wilderness and challenged to survive as long as possible using a limited amount of survival equipment.

With the exception of medical check-ins, the participants are isolated from each other and all other humans. The audience follows their wilderness outing via self-produced Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

“An unexamined life is not worth living.”

Probably this is one of the best-known sayings attributed to Socrates and recounted in Plato’s “Apology”, relating Socrates’ defense against the capital charge of impiety to the Greek gods and corrupting youth. Yet it remains a phrase as relevant now as it was over 2,000 years ago. Socrates was explaining why he could not abandon his philosophical inquiries, even when threatened with death.

Now, as most of us Christians have entered into the Lenten season, that phrase becomes rather a description of our self-reflection, and yet also Read More

Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By The Rev. Mary Ann Hill
Rector
Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church

Next Sunday, March 16, I will be in Germany for the 80th anniversary of the fire-bombing of Würzburg. Ninety percent of the city was destroyed in 20 minutes, and I had family members among the 5,000 people who perished in that bombing. Every ordinary German family eventually suffered under Hitler, and that doesn’t even begin to touch the suffering inflicted on the Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Well, it’s Lent again already. Ash Wednesday is March 5 for most Christians, and as we move toward the remembrance of the Resurrection of Jesus in about seven weeks, Lent is our “time in the desert” to reflect on what we have done well … or not … in our lives, correcting lapses and seeking to conform ourselves ever more in the image of Jesus.

But distractions have always plagued us. This may be a reason Jesus apparently covered a lot of points in a relatively short time in His talks—making the most of the time He had with audiences. As any preacher knows, dwelling too long on a particular Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

One of the things we hate in our lives is loss of control of what happens—to ourselves and within our sphere of influence. When things slip from that control, a sort of desperation stemming from uncertainty can take hold. And then we can be tempted to take shortcuts from what is ethical and right just so that we can regain that control. Not sure if you’ll get the promotion? Well … a little stab in the back of your competition—truthful or not—could be tempting. A little slander here, a little false evidence planted there … who’s to know? After all, I need that promotion more than they Read More

Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill and The Rev. Lynn Finnegan. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Deacon Amy Schmuck
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church

Where is the evidence of goodness in which I can engage in hope? This is a question I ask myself often these days. I limit myself to 30 minutes in the mornings in which I dedicate to reading and then praying “the news”. This practice is helpful to me so that I stay informed, but I do not dwell and perseverate too long on “bad news” that could easily lead to an overwhelming and even Read More