...a word from Kathy

I t started out as a normal Sunday morning.  Coffee, reading an actual newspaper and church.  It was Palm Sunday and we expected the waving of a few palms; however, what we were not expecting was to be fully engaged as actors in the Holy Week story.   The opening scene was one filled with uplifting music and a parade of palms, which involved many of those gathered .  The joy, laughter and celebration was contagious and uplifting.  The shouts of Hosannah through song were glorious. As the service continued, we found ourselves immersed in the full reading of Matthew 26-27, with reading parts.  These verses in Matthew reflect Jesus' last week on earth. Our active roles in a parade of palms quickly became new roles of disciple, bystander and spectator.  Some of our speaking parts were: Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him Gre...

M y mama used to tell me stories of days gone by and as much as I loved hearing them, I inherently knew there was more depth to her retelling.  A depth she wanted me to know, and experience, and apply to my life.  And she wanted me to find these truths on my own.  Unfortunately, much of her insight was lost on me until after she passed away.  But today, her birthday, I hear her voice in my memory, and I understand her wisdom a bit more.  As such, I hold her words very close. And so, I believe are the stories from the Bible. God longs for us to study and find truths on our own. 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:  “‘He will command his angels concerning you,  and they will lift you up in their hands,  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do no...

I n the Bible stories leading up to Easter, we read about temptations that Jesus faced.  On the surface, these temptations may seem to reveal the historic era of 30 BCE and not be applicable to our lives today.  But maybe, they reveal a human nature we prefer to ignore. We all have faced temptations. The easy ones to consider are those from childhood, i.e., the temptation to selfishness, or the high school/college temptations that led down roads we wished we’d never traveled, or the career temptations of, “what happens on the road, stays on the road.”  But in our current days of life, do we still have temptations, have we outgrown these sources of torment? After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:2-4 It is obvious that this...