On a sunny July morning, I drove into the Waldheim Jewish Cemetery in Forest Park, a suburb west of Chicago, to attend the burial service for a former hospice patient. Waldheim was founded during the second wave of Jewish immigration to the city in the late 19th century, and it has been the final resting place for women like Sara, a Holocaust survivor from Russia who lived into her 90s.
May the joy of the risen Christ be yours on this Easter Sunday! As we celebrate Christ’s victory over death, we can take delight in the hope it gives and in the new humanity that has been created. We are blessed to participate in this new way of living and bear witness to its life-changing reality.
I once considered becoming an Episcopal priest. I would sometimes attend an Episcopal church with a friend, and I guess I was enchanted by the billowing clouds of incense coming from a metal ball the priest swung from a chain.
The season of Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and contemplation of the power and promise of the paschal mystery. Perhaps there are no better models of how to live Lent than the prophets. Designed for congregational, family and individual use, the 2018 Presbyterians Today Lenten devotional is now available for ordering.
If you go to a church that follows the Revised Common Lectionary, you may have heard (or preached) a sermon last Sunday based upon the story of Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead is the last of John’s seven narrated “signs” of Jesus, all of which point to his identity as Messiah and lead people to believe in him.
Blessings to you on this Easter Sunday. As you celebrate Christ’s Resurrection, may you experience the hope of eternal life and lean into the promise of a world where God’s reign will be fully realized.
Journey to the Cross, the annual devotional series for Lent, will return to the daily devotional website, d365—devotionals 365 days a year—beginning Ash Wednesday, March 1.
An intentional young adult Christian community, “ConFluence” being formed at Crestfield Camp and Conference Center recently participated in a transformative moment for an aging Presbyterian Church — and for neighborhood kids in a working class neighborhood.