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Sabbath Devotional :: Holy Imaginings
Before the end of this month, I am going to be deposed. It’s my first ever deposition, and I’m feeling incredulous. I’ve never even had a speeding ticket! I volunteer! How did a nice girl like me get into a mess like this? My husband and I are suing government workers for neglecting to obtain a warrant before seizing our children after a false child abuse accusation. The experience was, as you can imagine, very traumatic, and since my own family was reunited I’ve spent many hours on the phone with other parents trying to figure out how to get their babies back, too. This is a cause I care…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Hope on the Border
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.” –Jeremiah 17:7 In what was once a nightclub in downtown McAllen, Texas, a Catholic sister unapologetically lives out her religion. Every day, the Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley Humanitarian Respite Center takes in scores of migrants who have been screened by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). Sister Norma Pimentel and her team provide floor mats for sleeping, donated clothing, diapers, over-the-counter medicine, a shower, warm meals, and help arranging transportation before they head out on the next leg of their journey, usually within a day or two. The shelter, with its blacked-out windows and…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Spiritual Memory
For this Sabbath devotional, I wanted to share these verses I have been reading and pondering on this week and a few thoughts related to them: Alma 37 6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. 7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls. 8 And now, it has hitherto been…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together in Christ
With global eyes on the Olympics this week, and the announcement that the Church has been officially welcomed into Azerbaijan, I have been thinking about Jesus’ great commission to send the gospel into all the world, and our own efforts to run the race of life. Throughout history, humans have arbitrarily created geopolitical borders and divided our DNA into ethnicities, races, and tribes. We also make up rules about games and physical achievements. These distinctions often divide us. Yet seeing world athletes float down the Seine and cheer each other on through competition makes it feel like we’re a small world after all. The gospel message is likewise for everyone,…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Prayer
As I was tucking my youngest into bed the last week, she quietly asked me if I believe in prayer. Something so tender and gentle about her question has stayed in my heart. I have been thinking about prayer in my own life. At times, admittedly, my prayers have been perfunctory. But I have also experienced prayer as a source of power and miracles. There have been times of prayerful heartache and distress. And other times of rejoicing in gratitude. I now believe that prayer is a means to develop a relationship with my Father in Heaven. I have felt His love and personal concern for me. And I am…
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Sabbath Devotional :: A Christian Paradox: on Jesus and Economics
I’ve been thinking about the Zoramites, which has me thinking of Jesus and economics. Christ took upon himself our sins, sorrows, and suffering so that he could succor us. This is supposed to be a source of consolation and relief. But alas! Not long before fulfilling all righteousness, Christ tasked us with the immense responsibility of caring for his people — specifically the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned, because Christ has made himself in their image. Christ’s injunction to care for the least of these puts into our laps the whole told and untold suffering of the world. And that is a mighty…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself
A few years ago I had an impactful epiphany, a shift in how I was thinking about one of the core passages of Christ’s gospel and ministry: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39). When Christ counsels us to “love thy neighbor as thyself,” we rightfully often focus on what loving our neighbor would mean, relative to how (or how much) we love ourselves. He urges us to consider others’ needs alongside our…
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Sabbath Devotional :: ‘Incalculably Diffusive’
Not too far from my home there is a beautiful garden cemetery. It was designed from the outset to be a place of beauty and inspiration, offering solace to those who mourned, while inviting the living to reach higher. For well over 100 years all of Boston’s “good and great” were buried here under imposing monuments or in its hills and dales. This place is special to me, and I have been going there regularly for decades. It has been a place of Sunday rambles with my family and friends, and quiet walks of personal reflection and solace. It has worked on my psyche as the founders had hoped —…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Silence: Your Soul Needs It!
I saw this sign touring a historic church: “Silence. Welcome to the church. A room for prayer and silence. So try to be off-line for 5 minutes. Your soul needs it!” At first I was dismayed because further signs clarified: no photos allowed (of the historic statues!), no recording (of the resonant evensong organ music!). However, there is a gift in putting down the screen. I thought of the Hebrew word “selah” which is often found in various Psalms (71 times, in fact). It’s a musical term, indicating a pause (although its exact meaning is debated). This reverent biblical verse came to mind: “The Lord is in his holy temple,…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Women and Work; Goodness and Mercy
For this Sabbath devotional I want to share two things that have been in and on my mind lately. The connection between them may be a bit tenuous, but these things have had a similar resonance for me in the last week and fit together in my mind as I was considering what to write for this week’s devotional. I was asked to speak in church last week for Father’s Day. My bishopric member who invited me to speak first discussed with me my thoughts on how I might approach speaking on that day, knowing that the holiday can be fraught with melancholy or sorrow, or simply complicated for many…
