December 1/First Thursday of Advent The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house. And it fell – and great was its fall! ~ Matt 7.27 Failure to build on a strong foundation is inevitably a pathway to collapse, whether one is constructing a house or a faith life. The obvious and salutary…
Author: Betsy Cahill
Keeping Advent 4: Only Connect
November 30/First Wednesday of AdventFeast of Saint Andrew He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. ~ Matt 4.19-20 Andrew, whose feast day we celebrate on this last day of November, is what we might anachronistically call a “team player.” He is a true…
Keeping Advent 2: He’s Got the Power
November 28/First Monday of Advent “Lord, . . . only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.” ~ Matt 8.8 Being faithful, being accountable, being committed – these modes of being seem to have fallen out of fashion in large segments of our troubled world. The idea that there is a power greater than we are, a truth…
Keeping Advent 1: The Readiness Is All
November 27/First Sunday of Advent Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.~ Matt 24.44 Each summer, as the waters begin to warm and swirl off the coast of Africa and head west towards the Eastern seaboard of the U.S., my husband and I go through the hurricane checklist. Canned food,…
Song 40: A Gracious Plenty
April 16/Holy SaturdayEaster Vigil You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have…
Song 39: Broken
April 15/Good Friday I am forgotten like the unremembered dead; I am like a dish that is broken. ~ Ps 31.12-13 I’ve always been enchanted by mosaics. The process of taking irregular and broken pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic and out of them creating a pattern, a portrait, or a picture seems almost miraculous to me. The interplay…
Song 38: Curse and Blessing
April 14/Holy Thursday How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? ~ Ps 116.12 Today, on this holy Thursday, let us reflect on all the good the Lord has done for each of us. We might enumerate small and mundane blessings, like the morning cup of coffee or the spring…
Song 37: Making Space
April 13/Wednesday of Holy Week Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak, I looked for sympathy, but there was none; for consolers, not one could I find. I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. ~ Ps 69.21, 31 Even though we may be through the worst of the COVID-19 days, life…
Song 36: Our Help, Our Hope
April 12/Tuesday of Holy Week For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth.On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. ~ Ps 71.5-6 The other day I heard the mother of a young boy apologize for her son’s behavior by explaining, “he finds transitions difficult.” Who among us…
Song 35: Waiting It Out
April 11/Monday of Holy Week Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! ~ Ps 27.14 Have you ever thought about how much time you spend waiting? Biding time in a TSA or grocery store line, checking the status of a college or job application, awaiting the MRI report or the baby’s…