You Are God’s Beloved – A Valentine’s Truth In a Love-Starved World

Posted by linda on Feb 14, 2016 in Holidays & Events, Lent & Easter, Lent & Easter | 17 comments The truest thing about you is that you are God’s beloved. Today on this Valentine’s Day of hearts and romance, I need to remember the truth about who I really am.  And so do you.  We are God’s beloved. As pastor and author Henri Nouwen says, “Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence” (Life of the Beloved, pg. 28). Regardless of whether anyone...
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ASH Wednesday ReBoot

Posted by linda on Feb 10, 2016 in Lent & Easter, Lent & Easter | 0 comments   Life has “happened” to me in the past couple of months. Unexpected financial challenges, job stress, two family members having cancer surgery, and so on… But on this Ash Wednesday I am filled with hope and expectation once again. Lent always reminds me that God’s mercies are new every morning, and that I can start fresh again. On this first day of Lent… I...
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My Ash Wednesday Psalm

Posted by linda on Mar 5, 2014 in Blog, Lent & Easter, Lent & Easter | 14 comments                       Ashen gray the sheet of waterless clouds hanging low overhead. Ashen gray the veil of bitter numbness shrouding my heart. And so Lent begins. I am detached from myself this Ash Wednesday. Wanting.   Desperately wanting a spark of the Divine to melt the walls of my self-imprisonment. Weary.  Burdened and weary as I...
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Ash Wednesday – An Invitation to Return to God

Posted by linda on Mar 9, 2011 in Blog, Lent & Easter | 0 comments Today is Ash Wednesday – the first day of Lent, the season leading up to Easter designed to turn our hearts back toward God.  Often when people think of this season, they reduce it to one question:  What are you giving up for Lent? Although giving something up for Lent is a practice that’s intended to lead toward self-reflection and repentance, this question can only take us so...
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Lent 8 – Invitation to Come Home

Posted by linda on Mar 31, 2010 in Blog, Lent & Easter | 0 comments Drops of sweat blurred his vision, but he didn’t slow his pace.  He didn’t even notice when people pointed and stared as he passed by – he was simply too busy rehearsing his speech.  This was his last option, the only way out of the pit he had dug for himself.  It felt like a lifetime since he’d been home.  Would his family even speak to him? He dreaded the look of...
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Lent Part 7 – Invitation to Waste Time

Posted by linda on Mar 23, 2010 in Blog, Lent & Easter | 3 comments True confession – I’m not very good at wasting time. I know what you’re thinking: how shameful!  But before you judge me, let me just say that I’m better at it than I used to be.  That’s because I’m in a recovery program and it’s beginning to take effect. Some of the activities in this program involve staring at the flowers outside my window, slowly...
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