The theme that strikes me this year on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is heroism – the heroism of the passengers on Flight 93, the heroism of the emergency workers, and especially the courage of the firefighters who were going up into the towers as everyone else was heading for the street, and trying to get as far away as possible. When the firefighters were climbing the stairs on 9/11 – quite a feat in itself, let alone when carrying all their equipment – they knew that the smart and safe thing to do would be to join the crowds heading for the ground. But instead of that, they kept climbing to…
In the summer of 2o00 my son Gabe worked a student internship at KBW on the 95th floor of the World Trade Center—an unforgettable experience. The following summer he was invited to return to New York, but he switched instead to a Chicago-based investment company. On 9/11 Gabe knew people personally who lost their lives at the WTC—and except for one decision, my son would have been one of them. How does a Christian react to the death of Osama Bin Laden? Obviously Christians reacted in every kind of way possible. What would Jesus himself think? Although he wasn’t involved in politics, Jesus …
Some months ago I was called to a home shortly after a beloved spouse had died. The body was still there in our midst as we talked gently and honestly about faith, Resurrection, and how hard it can be to believe in the face of such an undeniable physical fact as death. But I suggested that the strongest forces in our lives are always the invisible ones. Love, hate, fear, passion, joy –these immaterial realities motivate us and cause us to bond, to have children, to keep at our jobs, and guide and shape our actions, for better or worse. Believing the Resurrection can be a struggle at any time…
I’ve known, loved, and deeply respected Dick Young during these years I’ve been here in Oswego – he was always gentle and courteous to me, and I was grateful and proud to have him as a steady presence here in the pews on Sunday mornings — as Linda reminded me on Monday, pretty much every time that Dick entered this sanctuary he would say, It’s beautiful in here. Or I think how wonderful it was to have him stand next to Marine Josh Horton, just a year ago, by the William Shoger window – Josh cheerfully stiff and straight in his dress uniform and Dick there with his purple heart, won – TWICE–…
The Psalms were written in a drier climate that knew snow only occasionally—so when they wanted to show God's power, and how little humans were really in charge, they would frequently refer to thunderstorms, or to the mighty ocean crashing onto Israel's shores. If the Bible were written in the Midwest, the writers might have made a similiar use of our snowstorms! We like to think we're fully in charge of our destiny, that we control everything, even nature—and then comes a week like this past one, dumping thousands of tons of snow everywhere—including in front of our garage doors. …
In our early 21st century society, Martin Luther King Day is one of those holidays that no one knows what to do with. The schools and banks have it off, but most of society ignores it. And even people who observe it, observe it mostly by not going to work and going to a movie instead. This is deeply regrettable. We live in a society that is focused relentlessly on materialism and consumerism, on having bigger cars, more money, and fancier homes. Even the church is hardly immune from this. As Dr. King once said, the church used to be the thermostat - that is, it set the standard for human …
Established at the corner of Madison and Washington in 1896 and substantially remodeled and updated in 1967 and 2002, the Church of the Good Shepherd takes great pride in being in the heart of the downtown village and a visible sign of our community spirit and history. As such, we seek to be actively involved in the life of the village and that purpose is seldom more realized than it was on Friday Dec. 3. That evening Good Shepherd hosted—as it does four times a week—an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. We were also open as a Public Action to Deliver Shelter site, providing shelter that night …
