September 1-7, 2021
2022 is almost here, and we are preparing to celebrate!! The idea of starting a Mennonite mission church in Hutchinson KS was discussed as early as 1911 by the Western District Conference, with the first service in Hutchinson taking place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Sawatzky on April 20, 1913. On April […]
Read postAugust 25-31, 2021
Recently, while browsing the books at Crow & Co in downtown Hutchinson, the title of a little blue book caught my attention: Saint Francis of Assisi: Brother of Creation (by Mirabai Starr). Still holding the memory of our summer worship series in which I felt led to pair Jesus’ Beatitudes with lines of the peace […]
Read postAugust 18-24, 2021
Haiti and Afghanistan weigh heavily on my heart right now. Earthquakes, war, and more. Lord, have mercy. Our prayers for the people of Haiti and Afghanistan are significant and needed. Our financial help can also be a gift. I have a couple suggestions to support Haiti below. Mennonite Central Committee also works in Afghanistan, but […]
Read postAugust 11-17, 2021
God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening. Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded,But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome!The morning sun’s a new […]
Read postAugust 4-10, 2021
Some of my favorite moments this summer have been listening in the early morning to the birds singing in my backyard. I have a spot on our back porch where I like to start my days in greater awareness of, as Saint Francis of Assisi wrote: “our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules […]
Read postJuly 28-August 3, 2021
Arms wide open. The posture of crucifixion. The very posture we are invited into in the last stanza of both the Peace Prayer and Jesus’ Beatitudes: O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seekto be consoled as to console,to be understood as to understand,to be loved as to love.For it is in […]
Read postJuly 14-27, 2021
Last week I attended my first ever virtual MennoCon (Mennonite Church USA Convention). I’ve been going regularly to MennoCon since 2001, and while it was sad not to be in person, I was really grateful to be able to join virtually this year. Events began last Tuesday evening with worship and I enjoyed tuning into […]
Read postJuly 7-13, 2021
Sowing seeds of hope amid despair. This is where the Saint Francis Peace Prayer invites us next, after sowing seeds of faith amid doubt. HOPE was my 2020 ‘star word,’ given to me before COVID-19 changed us. You might remember Paul writing at the very end of his ‘love poem’ in I Corinthians 13: “But […]
Read postJune 30-July 6, 2021
O Lord and Divine Master, make me an instrument of your peace … where there is doubt, [let me sow] faith. This line of the St Francis Peace Prayer is our focus this week, leading us into worship this coming Sunday (July 4). As we cultivate life with God for the world, we practice sowing […]
Read postJune 15-29, 2021
“Lead us in the way of surrender” was our prayer this past Sunday in response to Jesus’ beatitude: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Mark Scandrette (https://ninefoldpath.org/ ) is the author I’ve been resourcing for these prayers and accompanying body postures. The posture accompanying this […]
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