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Warming up to Leviticus
Learning why this book matters by Jennifer Ginn WHO LOVES THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS? Given the challenge to study an Old Testament book, most people of faith would skip Leviticus every time. It’s legalistic, full of the blood of sacrificed animals being spattered on...
Worthy, grateful, healing
by Dorothy Probst READING THROUGH THE BIBLE, with a guided plan last year, I was struck by the book of Leviticus. Prior to this, I’d quickly skimmed the pages of this Old Testament book, bored with Israel’s detailed sacrifices to God, as I understood God to be “back...
May 2023 devotional: Love in action The art of intergenerational hospitality by Sarah Carson
Love in action The art of intergenerational hospitality by Sarah Carson In writing to the Romans, Paul advised this early Christian community: "For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body...
Sharing our gifts
by Linda Post Bushkofsky MY FATHER WAS A WELL-LOVED rural letter carrier, so when it came to Christmas, people on his route would remember him with all kinds of gifts. Throughout December, Dad would receive homemade fudge and fruitcake, bottles of aftershave, boxes of...
This Advent, be an auntie
by Lisa A. Smith THE FIRST TIME I BECAME PREGNANT, I found out early Christmas morning. Perched on the side of the bathtub, I held my breath, waiting to see how many lines would appear on the test stick. There were two lines! I was elated. I told no one. I had stuff...
Wonderfully hidden
by Elise Seyfried God, unlike camouflaged creatures, really wants to be found. “Those who have found God in the cross of Jesus Christ know how wonderfully God hides himself in this world and how he is closest precisely when we believe him to be most distant.” —...
Animals & Advent
by Elizabeth Hunter A CHILDHOOD NEIGHBOR, EVA, was known for her beautiful flower garden and care for unwanted, stray and hurt dogs—usually six or seven at a time. My siblings and I spent a lot of time at Eva’s, helping her with the garden and the dogs. She showed us...
Advent devotional: Good things come in small packages
by Becca Ehrlich We Americans often have way more stuff than we actually need. The average American home has 300,000 things in it. As a country, we are constantly adding to our possessions, and building bigger and bigger homes to fit everything. No matter how much we...
My faith and my plate
What if we felt a sense of responsibility, rather than dominion? by Maggie Olson EVERY BELIEVER HAS A DIFFERENT WAY of living out their faith. Our diverse spiritual practices are as rich and beautiful as humanity itself. Some people volunteer at their city’s food...
The assurance of things hoped for
by Venice Williams I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS to “walk by faith.” Faith has carried me through a number of challenging situations on my life journey. However, one beautiful afternoon last June, it wasn’t just about walking “by” faith. That afternoon was a moment of walking...
The way of the rescue dog
It’s the best model I’ve seen of faith. by Abigail Accettura I BEGAN VOLUNTEERING for One Tail at a Time, a Chicago-based animal shelter, only partly out of a desire to help animals in need. The much larger reason? I was desperate. Desperate for something to do to...
Creating community
Refugees from Ukraine find comfort, community in Romania By Emily Sollie “SAVA REMEMBERS,” SAYS KATERYNA, a mother of three. She fled her hometown of Kharkiv with her husband and children in the first days of the war. “We were hoping maybe he wouldn’t. But he told me...
Celebrating the season
by Linda Post Bushkofsky I GREW UP IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, in the mountains where the fall colors are outstanding. They do not always receive the same publicity that New England trees do, but they are beautiful, nonetheless. When I moved to the Upper Midwest, I...
Strange guests
God’s hospitality extends to creepy-crawlies too. by Christa Von Zychlin O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. … creeping things innumerable… living things both small and great. …and Leviathan that...
Oak sentinels
by Catherine Malotky GOD OF GRACE AND BEAUTY, for more than two decades I have begun my day with a walk in the same wooded park near my home. Situated on glacial moraine, the park has a lake at its center that was once a giant block of ice as tall as the highest...
November 2022: Video supplement to “Jesus and nature: Creatures”
Welcome to the November 2022 video supplement to the Gather Bible study, "Jesus and nature" by the Rev. Sara Olson-Smith. November 2022, Session 3: “Creatures,” offers us an opportunity to observe and learn about God from birds, foxes, sheep, dogs and other animals,...
Ground rules
by Elizabeth Hunter I’M CURIOUS: HOW MANY of your early memories involve nature? My earliest memory, from when I was a toddler, is of being in a boat on a lake. Another early memory involves a friend the same age as me, who waved each day, whispered hello and quite...
Sparrows and shepherds
One taught me to be the other. by Helen Hollingsworth “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many...