Mike Willock writes: In a recent sermon, Pastor Travis reflected on a mission trip in South Dakota where he and others built housing on an Indian reservation but never was able to meet the residents to talk with them and learn their stories. During the worship service, my mind traveled back to the late 1950’s and my grandfather’s farm in Celina, TX, a small farming community about 40 miles north of Dallas. There were no land acknowledgments then, but I have since learned that present-day Collin County was part of a buffer area shared by the Caddo, Cherokee, Delaware, Kickapoo and Tonkawa tribes. I remember rich, black farming land and rolling grazing land. Today Celina is slowly being absorbed into the sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. For several summers in my early teens I traveled by train to spend a week with my Celina grandparents. The house was built on a hilltop and last painted in 1900, with a wraparound porch and swing. The porch ceilings were light blue and ther...

During Sunday's sermon, Rev. Travis referenced a classic commercial for Snickers, starring Betty White as a football player, or at least football player who "playing like Betty White." The ad, which is often mentioned as often of the most memorable ever made, ends with the tagline, "You are not you when you are hungry." The point - the astute theological point - that Travis was making was the Israelites wandering in exile, and lashing out at Moses, are collectively what we might now call "hangry" - grouchy, uncooperative, not their best selves. Perhaps Moses ought to have shown them this video to remind them that "you are not you when you are hungry." Here is a video of the ad, which you may not have thought about in years: You are not you when you are hungry

Mike Willock writes: In a recent worship service, Pastor Travis challenged us to pay attention. He preached on the story of Moses, who first saw and turned aside from tending his sheep to approach the burning bush out of curiosity and then he met God there. In this modern era, with all the dings and screen prompts and calendar reminders competing for attention, we can easily miss or even dis miss signs of God’s presence in our lives.   I thought back more than 20 years to a Todd Hall workshop led by Rev. Belden Lane. He occasionally sat in the east transept at Second on a Sunday morning. Belden had us spend the hour after lunch looking for signs of God in nature. I found the first one close to the dining hall – a spray of flowers blooming in a decaying tree stump. Wandering farther afield, I only heard, but never saw, a deer moving through the brush a stone’s throw from the road. Two down, one to go, so I kept going farther on. Finally, walking back to the conference center alon...

Mike Willock writes: A recent Luther Seminary devotional highlighted two three-word prayers from the gospel of Matthew. I have added a third found in the Psalms. The first is in Matthew 14 after feeding the 5,000 when Jesus sent the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and went alone up the mountain to pray. Later that night the boat was caught in a storm and Jesus came to them walking on the water. Peter, ever the one to speak first, said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” When Jesus said, “Come”, Peter got out of the boat but soon he became afraid of the wind and waves and began to sink. He cried out “Lord, save me” (Matthew 14:30) and Jesus caught him by the hand and rescued him. That’s one. The second is from the Matthew 15 story of the Canaanite woman who pleaded with Jesus to heal her demon-tormented daughter, crying, “Lord, help me” (Matthew 15:24). Jesus praised her persistent faith and healed her daughter, which marked a turning point in Jesu...

  "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow" - Audrey Hepburn Crape myrtle in full bloom - photo submitted by Mike Willock

 Tim Woodcock writes:  It has been only been ten days since King Charles III was crowned. As a Brit, people have asked me about it multiple times since then. Do I like Charles? Am I a fan of the royal family? Does the pomp and circumstance of the occasion make me glow with pride? My thoughts and feelings on this are so complex and contradictory that trying to write a coherent response seems impossible. So instead here are some impressionist bullet points, firstly on the British royal family, and secondly on the idea of kingship plays in the modern church.          The verb is “crowned,” people! It is not as I heard it on a reputable news source, NPR, recently – “coronated.”           King Charles – not very inspiring, is he? I suppose you can say he will grow into the role and it’s simply impossible to please everyone as a monarch, especially as a monarch in the modern world. Queen Elizabeth II’s stature as a dignified, fai...

Mike Willock writes: Moving from the Maundy Thursday service in Niccolls Hall to the sanctuary where the Stations of the Cross are displayed, I was struck by two contrasting uses of a basin and water for washing. The basin in the Last Supper was used by Jesus, as described in John 13: “Jesus got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel he tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. … After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. … If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you must also do. ... I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you must also love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” The other basin was used by Pon...