July 29th, 2020

/
July 29th, 2020

The name “Martha” is used only here in the Scriptures, but “Mary” was a common name in this era. Mary is a form of Miriam, the name of the sister of Moses. We remember Mariam from the story of the Exodus and her song of jubilation when the Israelites safely crossed the Red Sea as they fled from Egypt and slavery. It is probable that the two sisters and their brother were unmarried and were wealthy – or at least independent since neither parents nor vocation is ascribed to them.

Read More

July 22nd, 2020

/
July 22nd, 2020

Most of us have a favorite saint or two among all the men and women honored in our faith. Today is the Feast Day for St. Mary Magdalene, my absolute favorite saint. She has been a favorite of artists and storytellers since the beginning of Christianity. Artists have painted only Mary, the Mother of Jesus, more times than Mary Magdalene.

Read More

July 15th, 2020

/
July 15th, 2020

I was asked recently why I choose to think about saints in these meditations. The most important reason is that I find the lives of saints fascinating and challenging. Too often we think of saints as extraordinary men and women who live tucked away from everyday happenings, very brave and always extremely poor.

Read More

July 8th, 2020

/
July 8th, 2020

In 1877, Eva Lee’s father was elected as Senator from Ohio and the family moved to Washington, D.C. Three years later her father was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Rutherford B. Hayes. That same year Eva Lee entered Wellesley College, though she never graduated.

Read More

June 24th, 2020

/
June 24th, 2020

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was a very young woman, probably 14 or 15 years old. Tradition is that Joseph was much older than she, but we do not have that included in Scripture. A second marriage, a second family was not unusual in these times as women often died in childbirth or broke their health with multiple pregnancies.

Read More

June 17th, 2020

/
June 17th, 2020

In 1861, just as our Civil War was heating up, a baby boy was born in Portuguese East Africa which we know as Mozambique. As a young boy, he worked in a store that was owned and run by a Portuguese merchant, and he picked up a smattering of Portuguese as he worked. By the time this boy was 15, he had moved with a cousin to the city of Cape Town, now a major city in South Africa. There he worked as a laborer and house servant for close to 10 years.

Read More

May 20th, 2020

/
May 20th, 2020

There is evidence as early as 30 years after the Resurrection that new Christian Church celebrated Ascension Day as a set-aside Feast. This was the first event in the life and ministry that the church celebrated together. When you think about human nature, that makes perfect sense. Jesus’s followers were quite likely to get together on the anniversary of that last day to share their memories of Jesus’s departure from them.

Read More

May 13th, 2020

/
May 13th, 2020

Back in time we meet Pachomius the Great. Born just as the 4th century began, Pachomius lived in Egypt. As a young man, he was caught up in a violent conscription of boys and men for the Roman army. Shipped down the Nile to Thebes, Pachomius met Christians who came every day to bring food and comfort to the kidnapped men. This ministry impressed him so deeply that he vowed to learn about the faith when he was released from the Army.

Read More