Does anyone else have seasonal playlists? I have a summertime sooth playlist filled with chill country music. I built it last year while I was tearing out walls in the basement before the basement waterproofing team sealed the cinderblock walls. It includes, of course, the song “Summertime” by Orville Peck. I discovered Orville Peck through […]
My wife’s Valentine’s Day gift to me was a trip to our local art museum. They just opened an exhibit titled “The Works of Warhol.” For years, Andy Warhol has been my favorite artist. If I am ever in a city and they have an art museum, I always check to see if they have […]
With the pandemic beginning to taper off, I am finally getting to offer in-person courses again (I know the proper protocols to maintain safety, am encouraging people to only sign up if vaccinated, mask up, and maintain distance). Some of my favorite in-person courses are United Methodist Studies courses offered in my district for lay […]
I spent some time on my parents’ land yesterday. I try to walk the land regularly, but in the past few years it’s been harder as I’ve been working more. I found myself in my grandparents backyard. I was next to Pawpaw’s old truck. The tires are now flat and it’s grown over with vines, […]
Dolly Parton recently reminded her social media followers that the critically acclaimed Joshua album turned fifty this week (April 12th, 1971 was it’s release date). A review in the magazine Cash Box called the title track one of the all-time best country records ever recorded. The song became Dolly Parton’s first #1 Hit on the […]
There are two main scriptures for today. Click here for Mark & Click here for John Both scriptures have a Jesus who will not be controlled. Mark has a Resurrection with no appearance and the women run away. (The gospel ends here, the rest is addendum to make it like the other gospels). In John […]
Click Here for a Link to Today’s Scripture Tom Waits is all we need….here’s a lyric excerpt…. Well, the moon is broken and the sky is crackedCome on up to the houseThe only things that you can see is all that you lackCome on up to the house All your crying don’t do no goodCome […]
Click Here for Today’s Lectionary Reading: John 18-19 I did not expect the “Ecce Homo” to stick out to me today. Ecce Homo is the Latin Vulgate translation of “Here is the Man” or “Behold the Man.” This is Pontius Pilate’s statement about Jesus, bleeding, wearing a crown of thorns, and wearing nothing but some […]
Here’s a link to today’s lectionary text – John 13:1-17, 31-35 The commentaries for today’s scripture remind us of a couple things. 1) There is a meal in John, but it is not the Lord’s Supper in the traditional sense but it connects to it. 2) The foot washing is something crucial to community to […]
Here is a link to the lectionary reading for today, John 13:21-32 Today’s scripture bothered me. I didn’t want to focus too much on Satan, betrayal and over explaining this. However, since, I’m not alone in my study of scripture, I turn again to commentators. Francis Moloney suggests that the thing we should look toward […]
Jonathan LeMaster-Smith 