Monthly Archives: April 2017

For Earth Day a Responsive Invocation and a Confession

Posted on April 29, 2017 by Maren

Invocation Psalm 8 (responsive) O God, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Your glory — light-years old in galaxies, is also the waking cry of infants, the “twinkle, twinkle” song of toddlers. You are near as Kevlar … Continue reading →

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Eastertide in the Autumn — guest post from Aotearoa / New Zealand

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Maren

I continue to follow the ongoing call of Eastertide by sharing this poem from Berverley Osborne of Stewart island. EASTER PRAYER It has been a grey weekend – rain and fog, low temperatures, nil-visibility and cancelled flights, dank and dripping … Continue reading →

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Service of Lighten-ing for Eastertide a Reverse Tenebrae

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Maren

On Maundy Thursday evening each year many churches have a service of Tenebrae – which is the Latin word for “shadows.” There is a series of six to eight readings and, after each one, a candle is extinguished, leaving us … Continue reading →

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The way of the cross leads home — guest post from Ken Sehested

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Maren

I can never too often encourage folks to connect with Ken Sehested’s http://www.prayerandpolitiks.org site, where justice oriented worship resources and reflections are posted every week of the year. You would also love his books In the Land of the Living … Continue reading →

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Two post-Easter hymns — new words to familiar tunes

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Maren

I Come to the Garden Alone (I think you know the tune) I come to the garden alone to taste religion quite slowly – but the risen hope has a broader scope and I find the whole world ho-ly. For … Continue reading →

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Prayer for an illumination of the harrowing

Posted on April 15, 2017 by Maren

God, I can just see them there listening to Jesus preach that mighty Saturday sermon – Sarah and Hagar leaning in to each other on a dusty old pew. Ruth is hand in hand with both Boaz and Mahlon, like … Continue reading →

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Prayer before reading Matthew 27: 15-23

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Maren

God, I am not sure about the theology of “Jesus died for my sins,” but I do know that Jesus died for Barabbas, putting a terrorist back on the streets. Let me hear the story of this Friday, without trying … Continue reading →

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And Peter (guest post)

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Maren

I posted yesterday about Peter’s denial of Jesus and Stephen Price offered the following comment: And you’ve reminded me of my job to tell the congregation. That the 1st resurrection that day was Jesus’, but the second was Peter’s. That … Continue reading →

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Prayer before tenebrae

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Maren

God, I found a bullet in the playground – not a casing, a bullet. Here we are – contemporary Gethsemane with swings and climbing structure, a child of God at risk, people who should care sound asleep. There are still … Continue reading →

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Prayer for Illumination for Matthew 26: 69-75 (Peter’s denial)

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Maren

God, remind me that it can be a most ordinary sound — the backbeat of a pop song from, you know, that time, or cicadas, or something that isn’t a sound at all — the scent of mother’s cologne, some … Continue reading →

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