A reflection by Mike Willock  Micah 6:8 (NRSV) God has told you, O mortal, what is good,     and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness     and to walk humbly with your God? To begin the Sacred Space for Children part of the worship service on January 29, pastor Travis tried to engage the children with the Micah 6:8 preaching text. He strutted in front of them with his chest puffed out and his head thrown back to contrast a self-absorbed and prideful stride with how we should walk humbly with God. Since then, I’ve been reflecting on that very familiar scripture. There are three action verbs – “do,” “love,” and “walk,” but we usually connect only the last of the three with the words that follow – “with your God.” I think that misses an important point. I think a better reading would be Do justice with your God, and Love kindness with your God, and Walk humbly with your God. When we separate t...

It’s just an old dog dish. Our dogs are long gone. We leave it on the patio as a rain gauge and for birds and squirrels to drink. But this morning the overnight snowfall and the warming day combined for a moment to create a joyful work of art, one that could not be sculpted by human hands. God left us a greeting card this morning. It will soon be gone. Beauty is all around us if we take the time to look. God is good. All the time.  - photo and text by Mike Willock

  (photo and caption by Mike Willock)

This talk was given in a recent chaplaincy assembly by Dr. Andrew Davies, a colleague of mine at St. Louis Priory School. Andrew has a background in astrophysics and he uses this knowledge to underpin his talk which encouraged students to think about what their guiding light is. This talk was so powerful that I thought it deserved a greater audience beyond those in the school community. Thank you for agree it share it, Andrew. (Tim Woodcock) When I was a college student, I gave shows in the school planetarium to the public, talking about what was visible in the night sky that evening.  This season of Advent, I am often reminded of the most popular question I got when I gave planetarium shows in December: “What exactly was the Star of Bethlehem?” This question has two answers: a short one and a long one. The short answer: we don’t know. Boring, but truthful. But, since my students know the best way to distract me in class is to get me talking about Astronomy, I’m going to give you...

Vickie Robinson (formerly 2PC's office administrator) writes: Since the Thanksgiving Holiday is over, my focus has now shifted to the excitement and joys of the upcoming Christmas and New Year's Holidays. My mind is forever filled with those who are not so fortunate, who cannot enjoy either holidays or life in general. During the pandemic, I was blessed with my position at 2PC and the ability to work from home during those uncertain times, when so many people were getting sick, dying, losing their jobs, and their homes. Neither my finances nor my life was interrupted. Being given such an opportunity made me realize how blessed and fortunate I was, and still am . Due to this appreciation, I was able to donate to the Good Ground Food Pantry to provide a family with a holiday meal and other necessities.  When I was a child, I often heard the saying, "It's better to give than to receive." I didn't realize how profoundly that saying would impact my life until ...

Tim Woodcock writes: Back in the summer, I read Annie Lamott’s Help, Thanks, Wow – Three Essential Prayers , mentioned in a previous blog post . While I appreciated certain passages in this 100-page book in it but wasn’t sold it on it as a whole. Before returning it to the library, I made a photocopy of the section about giving thanks, thinking I might be more in the mood for it at another time. In this Thanksgiving week, I revisited it and indeed there was more waiting for me, when I dug into the book for a second time. Lamott’s great gift is her constant swerve to avoid conventional religious language and in doing so, she makes things appear fresh. She writes: You may in fact be wondering what I even mean when I use the word “prayer”… Let’s not get bogged down on whom or what we pray to. Let’s say prayer is communication from our hearts to the great mystery, or Goodness; to the animating energy of love we are sometimes bold enough to believe in, to something unimaginably big, and ...

  "Our parents in faith are watching" - photo taken by Mike Willock, in the portrait lounge during the Christian Forum meeting prior to the Nov. 6 All Saints Day morning service.