Letters On The Page

 I rarely win prizes so I was pleasantly surprised to receive news that I won the grand prize drawing because I joined the Winter Reading Challenge  at Jasper County Public Library in Rensselaer, IN. Here I am receiving my grand prize basket loaded with all manner of fun things. Thank you friends! 

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Second Sunday in Lent      Genesis 12:1-9   Romans 4:1-8, 13-17   John 3:1-17 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  The very first word that God says to Abraham is the word “Go.” It is clear from God’s Word that when God says “go” to Abraham, He means go far away. Reflecting on what comes after the word “go” led me to think about why and how I go. When I travel, I do for three general reasons: Vacation which often includes visiting with family and friends; education experiences; and for a call to serve God and the church in another location.  When I go, I have a plan that includes mode of transportation and a time frame of departure and arrival. Before departure I have accommodations for overnight stays lined up through reservations. I make sure that I have sufficient funds on hand. And, if we are staying with f...

 Lent Vespers Exodus 3:1-15                                  February 25, 2026  O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  This morning when I took the recycling out, I was so delighted with the beautiful day, that I started to hum How Great Thou Art. We have that hymn in our hymnal on page 801. I could not remember all the words, so I looked it up. These words are familiar to all of you. In the first two verses, the writer uses imagery from nature. “When I in awesome wonder, consider all the works thy hand hath made, I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed. When through the woods and forest glades I wander, I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze.” The re...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   First Sunday in Lent   Genesis 3:1-21   Romans 5:12-19   Matthew 4:1-11 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen. Today we continue the penitential focus of Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, as a sign of contrite hearts and a desire to repent of our sins, we receive ashes upon our foreheads. At each imposition, the same words are said by the Pastor: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Even though we are all unique individuals with our own distinctive personalities, opinions, likes, dislikes, and abilities, the same words apply to each of us. We have the same origin story. The sin of which we repent comes from the same source. It comes from the man who was first made of the dust. Adam was endowed with the privilege of life and the responsibility of stewarding the Garden of Eden. Like all the other creatures in the gard...

Link to article Living the Life of Repentance and Faith in Christ Jesus It is appropriate that Ash Wednesday this year coincides with the Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther on the 18th of February, the 480th anniversary of his death. As Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten discipline of repentance, so did Luther’s Reformation begin with a focus on repentance, as articulated in the first of his Ninety-Five Theses: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” The very fact that the entire Christian life is one of repentance is a necessary reminder that it’s not something we turn “on” and “off” with the changing of the seasons. It’s not as though we exercise repentance during Advent and Lent, only to set it aside the rest of the year! But even so, there is a discipline and rhythm to the practice of repentance, which is deliberately intensified at times as a means of clarifying and strengthening our faith...

Walter Isaacson, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written . Simon & Schuster. 2025. The sentence that Isaacson declares as the greatest is the first sentence of the second paragraph of the American Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776.  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The author succinctly elucidates the sources, concepts, and intentions, behind the words: we; self-evident truths; all men; created equal; endowed by their Creator; certain unalienable rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Isaacson’s concise and clear explanations are a heuristic model for any introduction to the Declaration. Anyone can pick this book and learn why the Declaration is a truly unique document. I hope this book is used in civics classes in schools.  If the information stopped with the succinct explanation...