Dislocated Exegesis

Kathy Randall: Lela, Maseno, Kenya
In Chuck Campbell’s preaching class, one of our assignments was dislocated exegesis. Basically it required reading a specific scripture passage for an hour in a place that you normally wouldn’t read scripture. Given examples were in a bank or hotel lobby, at…

When I Became A Pastor

When I became a Pastor, I was still not sure what that meant. It seemed, all of a sudden, that I had great authority, great responsibility, and absolutely no way to know how to use it. It seemed that when I became a pastor, I was seen as another person, but felt the same inside. It was…

Complicated Joy

A year ago my husband and I lost our first child. We spent Memorial Day at the local state park, sharing a picnic and a hike, beginning to think about how our lives would change with the baby on the way. We hadn’t known for very long that I was pregnant, only a few days more than a week. But I was…

Five

Three “is the magic number.” Four is my personal favorite. Five is the number of years that I have been wearing a ring on my finger. “Which finger?” You ask. Well… it was on my left ring finger. And it could still be, but I’ll get to that.

Flash Fiction: Six Vignettes

In my writing group we had an exercise where we practiced writing flash fiction, trying to write a story in a paragraph. This is what came out. [This is all fiction. It might be a little odd. Consider yourself warned.]

Philosophical Hugs

I think my daughter hugged me for the first time today. Waking up, she makes noises to let us know that she is ready to be not in bed any more so I went in to go get her before we left for the morning. I unzipped her blanket and drew her into my arms up out of the crib. And she held on to me.

Confirmed and Commissioned

When I was twelve, the sixth grade Sunday school class lesson scheduled for the year was confirmation. Confirmation is an interesting practice that the United Methodist Church and other denominations use to shape and develop youth as they grow in Christian faith. We probably do it…

God doesn’t fit in your suitcase

“God’s Kingdom is Here” Luke 10:1–9 & Matthew 28:18–20Sermon to Williamson’s Chapel UMC on June 12, 2016

(carrying a heavy suitcase up to the chancel area)

Phew!

Need Joy?

“Anyone getting another cup of coffee?”

“Well, I’ve already had two, so I don’t need it.”

“Ok, just make eight cups.”

“But. … Well… I might want another…”