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My body has forgotten how to cry

My body has forgotten how to cry. I mean, I regularly tear up, I’m not a monster. But to cry, actually let the tears slip down my cheeks, sob, any actual catharsis, no. I cried at the beginning of last summer. It was the last day my family was worshipping at the church where we had attended for 11 years, where I had been the youth pastor, where my girls were born, with the people who rebuilt my house after the fire . It was also the last Sunday some of our best friends would be there. They were moving to Iowa. I cried from the moment worship began and all through the carry-in meal. I cried as I told them, “Thank you for allowing me to help raise your children and for helping me to raise mine.” That was the last time. Before that, I cried twice in the fall of 2018: both pretty intense circumstances. But, generally, the tears don’t come. They ball into a painful pressure at the top of my sternum. (Yes, I am aware that’s the heart chakra.) The world feels like it’s falling down. I have n
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Exodus 17 Readers’ Theatre

The OT scripture this week for Lent 3 Year A is the beginning of Exodus 17. The Israelites are thirsty and need to drink water after all the manna they have eaten in Exodus 16. The amount of dialogue in this text lends itself easily to an interactive reading. Narrator : The Israelites left the western Sinai desert. They traveled all together from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim (ref-i-deem) -- a resting place, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they turned against Moses and started arguing with him. Congregation : “Give us water to drink.” Moses : “Why do you bicker with me? Why are you testing the Lord?” Narrator : But the people were very thirsty, so they grumbled against Moses. Congregation : “Why on earth did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here so that we, and our children, and our cattle will all die without water?” Moses : “Lord, what can I do with these people? They are ready to kill me.” The Lord : “Go before t
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What does God’s voice sound like?

A sermon on 1 Samuel 3. I can't blame Samuel for initially failing to recognize God's call. Afterall, his duties included caring for an elderly blind man. Samuel made the obvious assumption that Eli was calling him. Secondly, it was the middle of the night. I don't know how y'all are when you get woken up in the dead of the night, but I am not at my best. I shouldn't drive a car. Unless you are a first responder or something you are probably pretty confused when woken the night. As I tried to imagine this scripture I thought of a sleep addled Samuel waking up a now very confused Eli. No wonder it took them three times before it occurred to Eli that it might be God calling. What do you think God's voice sounds like? Would you recognize it if you heard it? On the first try? On the fourth? I told the kids earlier that one way I like to understand scripture is by imagining myself inside that scripture. Developmentally, that sort of imaginative interaction is p
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