The Church Mouse

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, (Psalm 104:1)   Now, don’t hang on Nothin’ lasts forever but the earth and sky It slips away And all your money won’t another minute buy Dust in the wind All we are is dust in the wind (From “Dust in the Wind” by Kerry Livgren)   That was some thunderstorm we had the other night.  I knew it was going to be serious when the red ‘Emergency Alert’ came over my cell phone.  One of the cracks of … Read more

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31 Waiting. It seems that I spend much of my time waiting. Especially with Covid. I wait in line at the Grocery store or the Pharmacy. I keep my feet firmly on the ‘wait’ stickers telling me the distance that I have from the next person. I’m waiting for my second vaccination so that I am “fully vaccinated”.  (Tomorrow if all goes well). I’m waiting for … Read more

Psalm 94:19 19 And when I was burdened     with worries,     you comforted me     and made me feel secure.   Philippians 4:8 8 Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.   This morning, I got up and was casually petting Gabby, the bigger of my two ‘muppets’, and I picked a flea off her head.   Ewwwwww.   I really hate fleas.  Just as soon as I got that flea picked off and crushed, I picked … Read more

Job 38, Vs 1-7 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up your loins like a man,     I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?     Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!     Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk,     or who laid its cornerstone 7 when the morning stars sang together     and all … Read more

  Advice from the Wicked. Psalm 1: 1Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. This week, in a moment of boredom, I found myself online looking at new lawn furniture.  Its not like … Read more

Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. ~ Frederick Buechner – originally published in ‘Wishful Thinking’. The New York Times recently published an article proposing that because of the health care restrictions of the Pandemic, that many of us were experience life as ‘languishing’.  Languishing is considered an emotional state somewhere between depression and, well ‘flourishing’ and is a state of being where we are aimless, unmotivated and just kind of generally ‘blah’.  As if we can’t live … Read more

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15: 12-14 3rd Lockdown.  Sigh. It seems like this lockdown is harder than the other two.  I’m just so tired of being worried and having to restrict my movements. And you know what’s interesting – that the rules of this lockdown are absolutely no different from the first one: Stay at home when you can. Wear … Read more

This week I have been watching, with some amusement, the story of the Ever Given; the skyscraper sized tanker that got stuck in the Suez Canal and held up shipping for days.  I saw a meme on social media that read something like “I’ve had bad days at work, but never have I had a day as bad as the guy who got his tanker stuck in the Suez Canal”.  It really puts everything into perspective, doesn’t it. That’s the way of bad days.  The awfulness of the day can be dispelled by perspective and hope. This week is Holy … Read more

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. ( Psalm 139: 14) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1: 26-27) I spend a … Read more