Letters On The Page

Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer, IN   The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost  Genesis 15:1-6    Hebrews 11:1-16      Luke 12:22-40   O Lord, your words are 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.    These words of Jesus about anxiety, selling possessions, and being ready for the coming Son of Man, are not isolated sayings. At this moment he is standing before thousands of people. The words we hear today are a continuation of last Sunday’s reading that focused on the Parable of the Rich Fool. We recall that Jesus introduced this Parable because of a request from someone in the crowd. “ Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. ”    The Parable is for everyone who is there. It serves as a word of law that convicts those listening who have intentionally or inadvertently placed t...

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...