Devotionals

Saturday, March 5 Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Trespass. In daily life, we tend only to think of this somewhat archaic word in terms of “No trespassing” signs which caused me, as a youth, to think this was about walking on someone else’s land. That image stuck until I […]

Friday March 4 Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. When I arrived at Edwards Church almost 20 years ago, it took awhile to get used to praying the Lord’s Prayer with “trespasses.” Although I grew up in a church that used “trespasses,” I had just come from seven years […]

Thursday, March 3 Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. I once took a course on treating psychological trauma in the lives of children and adolescents. Grounded in principals of attachment and neurobiology, we practiced many skills designed to help our bodies quiet the stress response- a task that can […]

Wednesday, March 2 Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. I chose to reflect on this line of the Lord’s Prayer because for me it is one of the most meaningful. God taught us what forgiveness means, by forgiving us for our sins. We should do the same for one […]

Tuesday, March 1 Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  If you’ve ever been to the backwoods and farms of Michigan, it’s likely you’ve seen a “No Trespassing” sign. Actually, it’s likely you’ve seen hundreds of them, posted on trees and fence­lines in bright blaze­orange. Those signs signal a few […]

Monday, February 29 Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. I have always seen myself as a very forgiving person, so I began to wonder why I picked this verse to do a Lenten devotion on.  It suddenly came to me that there was one person I had never forgiven […]

Sunday, February 28 “Give us this day our daily bread” A hymn I wrote in 1997: “Our Daily Bread” We come to you, Christ, to be made whole, to fill the hunger deep in our souls. We come to pray that we may be fed: Give us this day our daily bread.   We hunger […]

Saturday, February 27 “Give us this daily our daily bread.” Daily bread. What a throw-away line. To me, it’s fathomable that if The Lord’s Prayer were brought to an editor’s desk in modern-day America, this clause would be marked for deletion. The primary reason I think this line doesn’t register with us is that “bread” […]

Friday February 26 “Give us this day our daily bread” This summer, Open Spirit offered an iftar, a Muslim breaking of the fast during the month of Ramadan.  About forty people–Christian, Jewish, Muslim and unaffiliated–gathered to offer a meal to our Muslim friends who had been fasting all day.  Before the sun set, several Muslim […]

Thursday, February 25 “Give us this day our daily bread” One of the most meaningful rituals for me in Christian worship is the sharing of bread during communion.  What makes it even more meaningful for me is freshly home baked bread.  The aroma scents the air with yeast while the soft texture nurtures the palate. […]