Letters On The Page

Wednesday of the 8th Sunday after Pentecost Video of Divine Service            Collect of the Day : O God, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth, we humbly implore You to put away from us all hurtful things and to give us those things that are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. The Epistle on this Wednesday after the 8 th  Sunday of Pentecost is from Romans, the 6 th  chapter.            Romans 6:19-23 19  I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.  20  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free...

  Katie Schuermann.  The Saints of Whistle Grove: A Novel . Kloria Publishing. Casper, Wyoming. 2023.  In structure this book reminds me of Wendell Berry’s book about fictitious Port William, KY. The place itself matters and is an important part of the story. The people are ordinary, yet their stories carry universal appeal. Lessons of community living are learned. Individuals become who they are because of the people they live amongst.    Where Berry connects people through the town and agricultural work, Schuermann connects people around the fictitious Whistle Grove church, school, and cemetery. The story encompasses the founding and closing of the church, school, and cemetery. Through the succession of pastors and the intergenerational stories of the interconnected families, coworkers, and friendships, profound spiritual and human lessons are learned.  We admire the bravery of the founding members who call a pastor and create a church and school. We...

  I just started reading Books and Libraries: Poems edited by Andrew D. Scrimgeour.  In the preface, the editor reflects briefly about personal and public libraries. I resonate with his experience in the university library where he was dean. "... I loved being alone in the library at night after closing, especially in winter as the snow fell. The library in its serene stillness had the feel of a snug greenhouse -  a place where words slumbered like seeds in their stiff covers, awaiting the warmth of our hands to awaken them and bring to flower the tales of novelists, the arguments of philosophers, and the diggings of historians."

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   2025 Proper 13C – Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  People sought out Jesus for many reasons. Nicodemus needed answers. The crowds wanted good preaching and sound Biblical teaching. Some wanted to see a spectacle of some kind, perhaps an exorcism or a dramatic miracle. His mother wanted him to fix the shortage of wine problem at a wedding reception. Others wanted an argument, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees. Many people were desperate for help that only a prophet like Jesus could give. Here I am thinking of the nameless masses that sought mental and physical healing from Jesus. I also think of the Roman Centurion, a gentile, who wants his beloved slave to be healed. Others wanted “in” on this new version of God’s Kingdom. James and John requested to be put in positions of po...

Some Books for Consideration Click Here for the Link   It’s been about a year and a half since I shared some reading suggestions, and it occurred to me over this past weekend that I’ve discovered a number of worthwhile books since then. Most of these I’ve read (or listened to) over the past year, whereas a few have come to my attention and are now on my list of “books to read” (which is always growing faster than I can keep up with). G.K. Chesterton,  The Everlasting Man  (1925), and  What’s Wrong with the World  (1910). I’ve enjoyed and appreciated numerous quotes and excerpts from Chesterton’s work over the years, but until this past year I had never actually read any of his books, despite the fact that  Orthodoxy  had been on my “to read” list for decades. In finally taking up that book to listen to on Audible while driving, I discovered  Heretics  which preceded it and  The Everlasting Man , which came after. Of those three,  Th...

  Wednesday after the seventh Sunday of Pentecost Video of Divine Service, St. Luke, Rensselaer   Collect of the Day : Lord of all power and might, author and giver of all good things, graft into our hearts the love of Your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Your great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.   The Epistle is from Romans, chapter 6.                                             Romans 6:1-11 6  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  2  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?  3  Do you not know tha...