Reflecting on the Sheep & Goats

The Gospel text last Sunday was one of my absolute least-favorite parables of Jesus; sometimes it is called “The Judgement of the Nations,” sometimes it is called “The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.” It is from Matthew 25: 31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,…… Continue reading Reflecting on the Sheep & Goats

Embodiment at the Parliament

The 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions opened yesterday, and I was pleased to be on a panel with two of my colleagues, Evangeline Anderson-Rajkumar and Kris Kvam, on Embodied Justice from a Lutheran perspective. I wanted to share a bit from my presentation, because I think the concept of embodiment is so important for…… Continue reading Embodiment at the Parliament

Rekindle the Gift Within You

I want to share the verses from Jeremiah that are guiding our work at Wartburg Seminary in our new strategic plan, “Rooted and Renewing.” Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,   whose trust is the Lord.They shall be like a tree planted by water,   sending out its roots by the stream.It shall not fear when heat comes,   and its leaves shall…… Continue reading Rekindle the Gift Within You

What’s Right about Organized Religion

Tish Harrison Warren has a regular column in The New York Times about faith and society; she deals with a wide variety of topics, and I almost always find it interesting. The article this week was titled “Faith Communities are Still a Force for Good,” and I really wanted share some aspects of it. [If…… Continue reading What’s Right about Organized Religion

The Caterpiller into the Butterfly

Photo by Chris F on Pexels.com “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, [God] calls a butterfly.” ~ Richard Bach.  I was in a nail salon last week [where there was quite a profusion of Christian-themed messages, by the way], and this quote was displayed in a little frame in the window. I actually hadn’t…… Continue reading The Caterpiller into the Butterfly

Jesus, No Respecter of Locked Doors

Jesus is no respecter of locked doors. That was the heart of the fantastic sermon that our homiletics professor, Sam Gilmore, preached this morning in chapel. This weekend, we welcomed to Wartburg a group of prospective students who are discerning a call to public ministry, and listening for how God might be calling them to…… Continue reading Jesus, No Respecter of Locked Doors

A Cultural & Spiritual Transformation

A week or so ago, I attended a presentation a colleague of mine gave on a grant project she will be leading in the next three years, on environmental education with the Maasai, using the system of Lutheran schools and confirmation classes. It is a great project, with the following components: Decolonizing climate science messaging…… Continue reading A Cultural & Spiritual Transformation