When is the last time worship gave you chills? Brought you to tears? For me it was Saturday, Sept. 22, at the installation of my new bishop, Patricia Ann Curtis Davenport. Yes, I witnessed history. She is the first African American woman elected bishop in our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a denomination that is 96 percent white. But perhaps the chills and tears were my realization that the Holy Spirit was in the house. Chills? I watched, as t

On Saturday, October 6, we will celebrate our annual “Blessing of the Animals.” Anyone in the community is welcome! (Though I ask that snakes, mice and gerbils be contained!) We do this in memory of St. Francis, who had a special relationship to God’s creation. We sing, and pray, thanking God for the animals who enrich our families, and praying for the families who care for them. When God created the cosmos, God left us to manage creation. It is 30 minutes out of the yea

One dreary morning, as I went to close the door to the deck, I saw a large, gorgeous visitor. A great blue heron was perched on our deck railing. When it heard the door, the heron took off and flew to a condo roof nearby, before moving on. My feelings were mixed. I had never seen this bird close up, and it was majestic. Yet when I noticed it, it was it keeping watch over my pond, looking for breakfast! Right after rains, the pond is cloudy, so I think all fish remain, b

On the anniversary of the nation’s horrible disaster in 2001, our thoughts and prayers are with grieving family members, first responders who are sick or have died as a result of their work, and countless others who are forever affected. Sept. 11 was to have been the due date for my second grandchild. The family was torn – wanting a birth any other day, versus a chance to celebrate life on such an emotion-filled anniversary. Grayson Michael was instead born on August 27. B