Author Archive: CedarCross
Freedom of Simplicity
We’ve had to simplify our lives a bit recently as the result of life circumstance – Paula not working. So we are looking at what we spend money on… And as I look at the things of our lives and many seem trivial. All the entertainment feels indulgent and […]
Words That Hurt; Words That Heal
One of the most common responses to our catastrophic loss has been “There are no words”. It is a genuine and good thing to say… But I think the truth is that we can’t find the words. And we can’t find the words because we are not practiced at it. […]
Nevertheless, She Persisted
When I first read the gospel text for this morning I remembered this scene on Capital Hill: a conflict between Elizabeth Warren and Mitch McConnell. During the confirmation hearing of Jeff Sessions in the Senate, Warren spoke against his confirmation citing the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s objection to Sessions and […]
The Naked Now
In all the literature on grief that I’ve read – and I’ve read a lot – they say how important it is to take a day at a time, a moment at a time, a breath at a time’ One can see the logic of it. To think of the […]
United Methodists seek racial justice
The United Methodist Church sponsored a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on August 16, 2017 to proclaim the church’s position seeking racial justice. The page directs readers to the website www.umc.org/embracelove which quotes Romans 12:21: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” The page states, […]
Guest preacher Sunday August 20
The Reverend Dr. Beryl A. Ingram will be our guest preacher on Sunday, August 20. The Reverend Dr. Ingram has been part of the Pacific Northwest Conference since 1970, first as a Lay Member from Fowler United Methodist Church in north Spokane, and after ordinations in 1983 and 1986, as […]
Adult Sunday School: Why Christian words have lost their meaning
This past year in our Adult Sunday School we were timely in reading Jim Wallis’ book about politics. But like the campaign and its aftermath it became tiring. We are still living in a political quagmire in our country that I don’t see going away soon. I imagine some of […]
Bible Study: Gospel According to Mark
Rather than “Wednesday Stud,y” this fall we will be reading the Gospel According to Mark, so it will be, “Wednesday Bible Study;” Wednesdays, 9:30-11:00 am. Why Mark? Why not start with the first gospel – Matthew? Because Mark is the first gospel, written around 70 CE. Matthew was written at […]
Adult Education Opportunities in the Fall
This fall I will be focusing on language. Whenever there is an election I am reminded of the importance of how language is used. Whenever there is conflict people use language to make points and disparage others. This is nothing new; it’s even in the Bible. A part of bible […]
United Methodist Church is a Connectional Church
Our United Methodist Church is a connectional church. Every United Methodist congregation is interconnected to other churches throughout the denomination via a chain of area conferences. This is the opposite of the non-denominational or independent churches we see popping up out of the blue all around us. At the Mill […]