Author Archives: bpemery

LaVerne’s Songline by LaVerne Biel

This is about my personal journey and hopefully is a chance for people to get to know me better.  I struggled with facts and timelines and quickly realized that those really didn’t define who I was or explain my worldview.  … Continue reading

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Kindness . . . the sharing of light and love by Walter Simon

In this summer of violence we experience as Americans a divided nation, social edges frayed by hostility and confused by self-serving, awkward, and politically skewed interests. In faith and understanding what I offer today is to express our obligation to … Continue reading

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Finding the Lost Coin by Oscar Mmbali

…. ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost coin’ (Luke 15: 9) Our ministry in Belize, looks like the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15: 8-9). It is like a house with many things in it, and it … Continue reading

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Soaked in the Peace of Christ by Paul Blankenship

Christ the little girl Christ is a little girl locked in a basement cellar. Starving, she hasn’t eaten in weeks. Abandoned, she doesn’t know where her parents are. Someone—somehow, for some reason—is pumping a poisonous gas into her basement from … Continue reading

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The Stories We Tell Ourselves . . . by Deborah Suess

Text John 14:8-12 My father’s name was Martin Suess.  And while I always loved my dad, it took some growing up on my part to fully appreciate him. As a 12 year old, Daddy didn’t exactly match my image of … Continue reading

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The Will to Love and the Wind of Friendship by Paul Blankenship

I am a cosmic ball of emotional energy, sitting in the world of my mind, the world of my office, the world of homelessness, the world of academia.   There is excitement. In a few short hours, I will see … Continue reading

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You Feed Them by Gary Jewell

Matthew 14: 13-21  Some of us were raised with a whole host of very clear and explicit rules in our families; and for some of us the rules were a little less explicit.  I suspect most of the rules in … Continue reading

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Be Not Afraid by Walter Simon

PROLOGUE: “Most people are playing nice right now managing this virus, the wreckage, pain and anger it will leave behind requires solidarity and healing.”  New York Times, 4/20/2020 “. . . a Quaker is a friend who helps you find … Continue reading

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Unmasked by Deborah Suess

Luke 24:13-35 My wonderful Aunt,  Bunny Gillin, lives at Friends Homes, a retirement community here in Greensboro.  When the plea went out a few weeks ago for homemade masks…. she got busy making masks for anyone in need. As her … Continue reading

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Easter Sunday feels more like Holy Saturday by Paul Blankenship

It doesn’t feel like Easter. Not to me, anyway. Not right now. Let me be honest. On Easter, Jesus emerged from the tomb. He put two feet on the ground. He took fresh air into his lungs. He gardened, I … Continue reading

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