Author Archives: maggiemax15

Metaphors for Dying

Today we have two great stories from Mark.  The first is about Zebedee and Salome’s  two boys.  It presents to us questions about our own discipleship. The second is about the ten other disciples who believed that the two hot … Continue reading

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The Spirit of Meekness

The Christian attitude toward self and life is optimistic!   Meekness enables us to bear patiently those insults and injuries we receive at the hand of others. It makes us ready to accept instruction from the least of the saints. It … Continue reading

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Prayer and the Ideal Community

James urges us to not expect magic solutions and sudden divine interventions which will bring justice for all nor simply give assent to metaphysical claims about Jesus and God, but rather that frail, fragmented and very human people, like you … Continue reading

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“And that’s the way it is…”

The public had the opportunity this week of memorializing Walter Cronkite who died this last July at 92 years of age.  He was very close to my parent’s age. He attended Sam Houston High School in the same years my parents attended San Jacinto … Continue reading

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Transitions

In times of disruption, our first reaction is to try and recover what we believe has been lost.  Do you think we can resurrect the aluminum and steel mills and automobile plants and somehow get back on track?  That argument … Continue reading

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Bread of Life

From the perspective of what “should have been”, the Jewish people were within days of entering the promised land. Had they remained focused on their mission as the chosen people they would have avoided the punishment of the 38 additional … Continue reading

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All Good Things Come From God

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians puts me in mind Margie McAdams, the wife of a pastor I once knew.  It was her heart felt concern that Christians who before their meal in a restaurant bowed heads and said grace must leave … Continue reading

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Got Chutzpah?

Like snow melt filling the ponds and streams and then the tributaries of mighty rivers, the demands of God’s kingdom continue to grow.  And the ice dams, like that that held back the Missoula flood for untold years, will break … Continue reading

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Voices of the Spirit

Today’s texts Ezekiel 2:1-7; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13 present three examples of individuals called out and then sent out by God to speak to their communities. One thing we learn is that the quality of a gospel proclamation cannot … Continue reading

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Hesed

Lament happens when we experience suffering that seems inconsistent with God’s hesed, when the door to God’s presence seems locked and barred from the inside. When circumstances cause us to question God’s hesed, we invariably reach out through lament. And … Continue reading

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