Spirituality

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

There was a rather persistent headline on a news site recently in which an actor was disparaging religion and, by extension, those adhering to religion. But what is always mystifying to most of us is why celebrities’ opinions of things they either know little about or don’t understand are considered “newsworthy” in the first place. There are a great many celebrities and, as the pastors in and around Los Alamos can testify, world-class scientists and engineers who are devout believers; why are their opinions not trumpeted as this person’s were?

Well, of course, it is lamentable Read More

Passover matzah. Courtesy image

By Rabbi Jack Shlachter
Los Alamos

Jews around the world are winding down the last few days of Passover. Passover, which always starts on a full moon in the spring, began this year on the evening of Monday, April 22, and continues through Tuesday night, April 30. On Monday, April 29 at noon, members of the Los Alamos Jewish Center will gather for a half-hour service to remember deceased loved ones as part of the closing out of the holiday.

Passover is the most widely observed holiday on the Jewish calendar. The evening home- or community-based talk-feast ceremonies Read More

Clergy from left, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon  Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By DEACON CYNTHIA Z. BIDDLECOMB, M.Div.
ELCA

The Gospel of John, chapter 15, verses 1 through 8 is read in many churches this week.

In this passage, Jesus says, “I am the vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to bear more fruit. …Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Some of my former parishioners live in a very rural setting, and besides farming one of their businesses is raising/selling a species of goat used for Jewish religious rites. They related to me recently that they found one of their dogs which guard the sheep bloodied, some slain coyotes nearby. The faithful hound evidently had repulsed a coordinated attack for which the wily coyote is so well known.

I recalled this while reviewing the Gospel for this weekend’s Catholic Mass in which Jesus portrays Himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18). One of the earliest paintings of Read More

Clergy from left, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon  Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By Pastor Nicolé Raddu Ferry
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church

“Solitary confinement involves physical isolation. This means a person has minimal interaction with other people. It can cause severe psychological distress and other adverse mental effects. Isolation can be as distressing as physical torture and it can create the following: anxiety and stress, depression and hopelessness, Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Hmmm … so many videos nowadays of people shoplifting, stealing, attacking the weak, etc. Now we have to wait for the clerk to come open the case even for a can of $1 shaving cream! But, if they’re locking it up, that means people are stealing it. Sigh. No wonder Amazon stock keeps going up; at least with them you don’t have to go through the hassle (and often the danger, in larger cities) of going shopping, waiting for clerks to unlock, broken carts, etc.

One wonders where the sense of honor has gone, much less the simple sense of right and wrong and respect for property. Of course there Read More

All Shall Be Well
Guest Column by
Chuck McCullough

• • • • • Today’s column is written by Chuck McCullough, “Friend and admirer of the writers of All Shall Be Well”.
          

We drove for seemingly endless miles through the verdant countryside, a couple of small boxes containing the ashes of mom and dad carefully nestled in the trunk of the car. Our destination was the old cemetery, located not far from where we had grown up, where generations of our family lay in quiet repose. Our parents had chosen this resting place years ago.

As I stepped out of the air-conditioned minivan that late summer morning, my senses were Read More

By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Heavy sigh.

I just heard of (yet another) taking of one’s own life. It seems to be so frequent these days, especially among young people. I saw a stat the other day that we’ve lost more military and veterans to suicide than to the Gulf War and the conflicts thereafter. Why so much angst in so many?

Well, the reasons are no doubt as varied as the tragedies. A lot comes from despair in finding paths out of abusive relationships, being sunk into alcoholism or depression, fear, hopelessness, forlorn love, money problems … the list can go on. And, I think, a lot of it might be avoided—or at Read More

Clergy from left, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Pastor Nicolé Ferry, Deacon  Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired, Associate Priest Lynn Finnegan and Pastor Deb Church. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com

By LYNN FINNEGAN
Associate Priest
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith
Santa Fe

“Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy.” Psalm 126:2

“Humor is a prelude to faith, and laughter is the beginning of prayer.” Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr

Easter, despite the reduced-price candy sales at Smith’s, is not over. Easter is a season, not a day, and it lasts fifty days. “Seasons” Read More