I am always struck by what people hear in sermons. After worship someone will remark about something in the sermon that may not even have been the point I was trying to make.

There was a turn of phrase that I used in a sermon a while back that was like that. It wasn’t the point of the sermon but people seemed to remember it (I’m not even sure the main point got across—but that’s okay!).

As we continue our journey in the Easter season, I offer here the Easter Message from our United Church of Christ General Minister and President the Rev. John C. Dorhauer.  May we find hope in his words during these challenging times.

It has become my post-Easter tradition to share the following prayer in this column. The prayer was written by Sir Francis Drake who was an English explorer in the 1500s (Elizabethan era) and led the second expedition to successfully circumnavigate the globe. The exact date of the prayer is unknown.

Jesus is Risen! April fools!

There is a certain irony when Easter Sunday falls on April 1st—April Fools’ Day. After all, when the first disciples announced his resurrection, many people assumed that they were joking.

During these weeks of Lent, I am offering here an invitation to an ancient spiritual practice called “Lectio Divina”. It is a practice of contemplatively reading scripture in order to still one’s mind and connect to God.