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Text: Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
It’s been interesting to watch how our islands have changed over the past eighteen months. In particular the business districts of the three main islands are not the same now as they were. Businesses have closed.Some new ones have opened. Others have remained in operation the whole time but are doing business differently these days.
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A Pastoral Reflection, Pentecost Week Twelve, A Second Summer of Pandemic Living, August 13, 20218/14/2021 I like the word navigating. It’s a word that suggests setting a course with the best skills we have from getting from here to there. At the same time, it acknowledges that our usual maps may not be completely up to date. There could be complications, detours, delays, perhaps dragons of various kinds.
Texts: 1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
I’ve met a lot of interesting people in my life. Just now I’m recalling a couple whom I knew over thirty years ago. They were part of the first congregation I ever served and I was invited many times to their home to share memorable meals with them. Karol was a gentle, quiet man, while Alida was a wiry, energetic woman who loved to cook for people. A Pastoral Reflection, Pentecost Week Eleven, A Second Summer of Pandemic Living, August 6, 20218/7/2021 The ferry workers were having a Very Bad Day when we tried to get off the island for the dog’s oncology appointment the last week of July. You know how it goes. The early ferry was full. (On a Wednesday, at 5:00 a.m.? Really?) And we didn’t get on. The next one didn’t have enough crew and left an hour late.
Texts: Exodus 16:2-4. 9-15; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35
Whether you use social media or not you may have heard of the Darwin awards. Photos are posted of people doing things that are clearly not wise. Like the guy stretching his hand out toward the nose of a bison in Yellowstone National Park like you would when approaching an unfamiliar dog. A Pastoral Reflection, Pentecost Week Ten, A Second Summer of Pandemic Living - July 30, 20218/7/2021 We never planned to make history did we? And yet we are doing just that as people living through a world-wide pandemic. All those old bible stories about plagues? Who could have guessed that we would experience one ourselves. But here we are.
Text: 2 Kings 4:42-44; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21
Telling stories is an art. Especially when it’s not exactly a new story. It’s even more challenging when your audience is all over the map in terms of interest level and capacity to listen. A Pastoral Reflection, Pentecost Week Nine, a Second Summer of Pandemic Living — July 23, 20217/25/2021 I’ve been re-reading a favorite Christian writer. She’s my go-to when I need a little infusion of spiritual oomph. Julian lived in Norwich, England in the twelfth century, but her wisdom is unbounded by time or culture.
Texts: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
I just heard a story about a kid who’s bicycling across the country raising money, which as I recall is for medical research. I happen to know the kid’s mother, and she shared this story. A Pastoral Reflection, Pentecost Week Eight, A Second Summer of Pandemic Living — June 16, 20217/18/2021 It’s the end of the week, crabbing season has just opened and the harbor and local waters are brimming with boats. That’s probably why I’m hearing the ferry horn so frequently of late. Usually it’s the charming three note tune that signal a ferry entering or departing the dock.
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Author
The Rev. Beth Purdum Eden is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. She has served in more than 6 parishes in the Western United States for 30 years. Archives
January 2022
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