Text: Genesis 21:1-21 I saw Hagar last week. She was foraging through a church dumpster. She was dodging ICE agents at the airport. She was harvesting crops from dawn to dusk on the Eastern Shore, praying that she would get paid this time. She was standing in line with her baby, hoping to get the last shelter bed for the night. She was weeping openly as she looked upon her dead husband and two-year-old daughter lying face down in the Rio Grande. (www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/u

Text: I Kings 19 (selected verses) Chapter 18 of I Kings is all about the religious superstar Elijah. The prophet stands up to Jezebel, the powerful foreign-born queen of Israel, and he makes a fool of her and her minions. Elijah takes on the mouthy prophets of the wimpy gods of Ba’al and it is no contest. At the close of chapter 18, Elijah is a religious superhero who soars to the greatest heights. I stand in awe of Elijah in Chapter 18, but he is not someone I know. It is t

Text: Proverbs 8, selected verses The book of Proverbs is tucked away in the middle of the Old Testament. It is an odd book in many ways. There are no stories, no dramatic events recounted, and no clear beginning and end. In some ways, reading the proverbs is like opening a fortune cookie to find the wisdom of the day without the lucky Lotto numbers. A few of my favorite proverbs are: “Better to meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool immersed in folly” or

Text: Acts 2:1-21 The Session meeting had gone on for nearly five hours and it was rapidly approaching midnight. Yes, midnight! Many elders had come straight from work in D.C. and had not had supper. Nerves were frayed and patience had left the room a couple of hours earlier. The debate was intense and as the night grew later, the debate grew sharper. I kept looking for a wise move to make as Moderator to bring the issue to resolution and to get this never-ending meeting ende

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35 Before Pentecost arrives next Sunday and we say goodbye to the Easter season, we would be wise to celebrate a holiday that most skip on the church calendar – Ascension Day. This holiday is tucked far away from most everyone’s sight. It falls on a Thursday, this past Thursday to be specific. To the best of my knowledge, no one gives Ascension Day presents or has the family over for an Ascension Day meal or belts out Ascension Day songs. This holiday is so