Tag Archives: despair

Look for things that go right.

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Easter (A), 9 April 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Jeremiah 31:1-6. I have loved you with an everlasting love.
  • Colossians 3:1-4, 5-15. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
  • Matthew 28:1-10. Go and tell.

O God of new life, grant us the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may and cost what it will.

I wish you could see yourselves, the way you look from this pulpit; you look beautiful! I was hoping that you would be here, and I am so glad that you are. I’m glad for those of you who are with us via live-stream, too, even though I can’t see you! Thank you for celebrating Easter with Emmanuel Church! Welcome to those of you who are here for the first time, those of you who have been here more times than you can count, and  all of you who are somewhere in between. Continue reading →

The Book of How

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Proper 22C. 2 October 2022.  The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Lamentations 1:1-6. Her priests groan, her young girls grieve, and her lot is bitter.
2 Timothy 1:1-11.  Recalling your tears…I am reminded of…a faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice….Rekindle the gift of God that is within you.
Luke 17:5-10.  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

O God of our weary years and silent tears, grant us the strength, the wisdom, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may and cost what it will.

Our first reading this morning was taken from the book of Lamentations, and I want to linger there a while because we so seldom read anything from this book of the Bible. Only once every three years do we hear any passage from Lamentations during our Sunday worship. It doesn’t surprise me that we don’t read from this book more often, because it’s a collection of five dirges, five poems of deep pain and suffering, of outrage and grief, of complaint and protest, in response to political calamity, social and economic devastation, and utter theological collapse. The poetry of Lamentations challenges the notion that religious life should somehow be spiritual but not political. I often think that anyone who believes that hasn’t read very much of the Bible, but the lectionary colludes by not scheduling many overtly-political readings. Continue reading →