good friday – Cooking with Elsa

An Easter Pageant for a Pandemic Year

This year, we have done things differently. Worship has been different and there have been surprises. There are things that have happened in worship that never would have been possible if we had not been forced into online worship for the care of every beloved child of God. Sometimes, different is good. It invites usContinue reading “An Easter Pageant for a Pandemic Year”

Holy Week in Coronatide

I hadn’t yet started writing pandemic prayers when Holy Week came along last year. Like so many, I was blissfully unaware of what was ahead. We had cancelled a vacation that we will actually be venturing into next week. My husband had just redeployed from Korea. I have had a mental block about how closelyContinue reading “Holy Week in Coronatide”

Embracing Wonder with Children

There are specific things with instructions that parenting requires. Potty training, I am learning, is one of them. There are steps that your child must understand for success. First, she’s got to pull down her pants and then sit on the potty before she pees. There is an order to this process. It’s important notContinue reading “Embracing Wonder with Children”

Woman, Behold Thy Son

Tonight, I will share in worship with my home church at Old First Reformed United Church of Christ in the remembrance of Good Friday. It is the tradition in many places to share in hearing and reflecting upon the seven last words of Christ. I have never actually been in a place that has done this so whenContinue reading “Woman, Behold Thy Son”

Good Friday Came First

Before the alleluias get dug up from the ground, before anyone can look for the living among the dead, before Sunday can come, there will be a Friday. It is the order of things. It is the way that the calendar pages turn. Before there can be a Sunday to praise, there must be aContinue reading “Good Friday Came First”

Good Friday Reads

Last night, in a darkened sanctuary, I was called to worship with these words: On this day Christ the Lamb of God gave himself into the hand of those who would slay him. To this, the people were meant to reply: We walk with his family, his friends and disciples who gathered in the upperContinue reading “Good Friday Reads”