Have you ever been surprised by joy? Sometimes you find joy when you aren’t looking for it. Last weekend I attended to a Neil Diamond Tribute performance. After ending with a rousing rendition of “Sweet Caroline” replete with people in the audience standing up and singing along (who can not sing along when this song […]
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There are many ways to praise God. Last week we looked at praising God in silence in Psalm 65 – Praise Awaits! This week we look at another way to praise God in Psalm 66 – Shout for Joy! What are the psalmist’s reasons for shouting for joy? Psalm 66 In Psalm 66 – shout […]
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Merry Christmas! While the Christmas shopping season ended Christmas day, Christmas is more than a day. Remember the twelve days of Christmas? Christmas is a season in the Catholic liturgical calendar, lasting over two weeks, from Christmas day to the Baptism of the Lord in January. All reason to raise a cup of Christmas! Celebrating […]
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This week I raise a cup of Joy (or Faith since Joy requires faith!) Our time of waiting for Christmas is half over; this is reason for rejoicing for some, for terror for others who are not ready. In Catholic churches throughout the world, the rose candle of the Advent wreath is lit, signaling the […]
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Hurray! With Psalm 100, I’m two-thirds of the way through the Psalms. If I continue at this rate, I will be all the way through the book of Psalms by this time next year! Reason to rejoice! As we in America celebrate Thanksgiving, there are many reasons to give thanks and make a joyful noise. […]
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Summer is here, life is good! All reasons to rejoice as Psalm 81 tells us. But we also need to remember. Psalm 81 Psalm 81 starts with a call to celebrate, “Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song, sound the timbrel, the sweet lyre with […]
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Several years ago, we had an unseasonably warm winter followed by a lost fruit crop because trees bloomed too early and the buds were killed by frost. The following year though was a boom year as the trees made up for the lost crop by producing in abundance, overflowing. Farmers had a difficult time harvesting […]
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Something strange has happened over the last few weeks. Perhaps it was the winter cold and snow, turning my blood into slow-flowing molasses in my veins. (Think of it as playing a 78rpm record at 33rpms for those of you old enough to remember what this is.) Perhaps it just because I’m growing older. Or […]
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Yet another lament. Enough already! Like Michigan winters, they just go on and on. I look for relief and see weeks of snow, freezing temperatures and freezing rain in the forecast. I look for words of quiet and repose, yet I get words of sorrow and anger with little end in sight, including this week’s […]
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Joy comes with the morning. This passage gave me comfort years ago when my position as chaplain was abruptly eliminated. One minute I was planning out the next month’s sermons, an hour later I was sitting in my car with twelve years of my life packed into the trunk and back seat. I had started […]
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