Letters On The Page

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...

7th Sunday after Pentecost          Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 2025 Proper 12C           Genesis 18:17-33       Colossians 2:6-19      Luke 11:1-13 There are two places where Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer. Today’s Gospel reading from Luke 11 and Matthew 6. We note that in Luke 11, Jesus gives them the words of the Lord’s prayer in response to a question. “… one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples .’” Jesus responded with words that we recognize as the Lord’s Prayer. In Matthew 6, the situation is different. Jesus offers the Lord’s prayer in middle of the Sermon on the Mount. The lead up to this moment in the sermon is different in tone and instruction. Jesus begins by saying, “ And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the ...

https://in.lcms.org/an-intersection-of-the-church-and-the-home/   An Intersection of the Church and the Home Having gone from our own Indiana District Administrators’ Conference to the CCLE Conference at CUW in Mequon this past week, I’ve been thinking even more than usual about the blessing of our Lutheran heritage and history of education and the role and purpose of our Lutheran schools. Going back to Dr. Luther himself and the sixteenth-century Reformation, we are the recipients of a long legacy of significant contributions to the philosophy and practice of Christian pedagogy – for young and old, rich and poor, boys and girls – for the strengthening of faith and love, for the service of the Church and the community, and all for the praise and glory of God in Christ Jesus. Among the many excellent presentations that I was privileged to attend at the CCLE Conference, one of them provided a powerful case in point: Dr. Susan Mobley, one of the classical education professors at Conco...

 2025-7-23 Wednesday of Pentecost 6   Collect of the Day : O God, You have prepared for those who love You good things that surpass all understanding. Pour into our hearts such love toward You that we, loving you above all things, may obtain Your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.   1 Peter 3:8-15 8  Finally, all of you,   have unity of mind, sympathy,   brotherly love,   a tender heart, and   a humble mind.   9  Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary,   bless, for   to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.   10  For  “Whoever desires to love life   and see good days,   let him keep his tongue from evil      and his lips from speaking deceit;   11  let him turn away from evil and do g...

 I was saddened to learn of Professor Frey's dismissal and the "rearranging and refocusing" of the Honors College at Tulsas. Here is the link to her essay that was recently published in the New York Times.  https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/opinion/liberal-arts-college-students-administration.html Here is a link to worthwhile comments by Professor Alan Jacobs about Prof. Frey and the general status of Liberal Arts education:  https://blog.ayjay.org/enemies-of-the-liberal-arts/ Here is the link to the interview that she consented to give with the host of Classic Learning Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUIAJG4kiy4    

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Sixth Sunday after Pentecos t  Genesis 18:1-14         Colossians 1:21-29                Luke 10:38-42  O Lord, your word is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path; let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen . When I was a young lad, one of the joys of going to the grandparents’ house in Iowa was reading through the stacks of Reader’s Digest. I remember thoroughly enjoying reading and then reading out loud to the relatives the jokes and stories that were in the humor section. They called it then, and I think they still call it, “Laughter is the Best Medicine.” In the midst of great seriousness, because life is serious, laughter and joy and the occasions that induce mirth help lighten the load a bit.  We also know that laughter is not ...