Palm Sunday 2020. It feels "off" this year. Everything feels "off" right now. Our church sanctuary sat empty today. Yours, too? Within its walls there were no palm branch-waving children placing their bounty at the foot of the cross. No songs of hosanna. No communion. No reading of Scripture. The great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel! (John 12:12-13) No black drape hung as a symbol of the days of darkness and mourning in the week ahead. Especially this year, when there's already so ... Keep Reading...
By
FIVE MINUTE FRIDAY: now
Words once used by an expert on the early Remington typewriter to demonstrate his touch typing abilities (and for years later by instructors as a typing drill) seem amazingly appropriate today. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. When I saw today's Five Minute Friday word prompt, that's the phrase that popped into my head. Strange, I know, but I'm going with it. If you're not familiar with Five Minute Friday, it's a weekly link-up that provides a one-word writing prompt—and encourages writers to write free-style (unedited) for five minutes. START NOW. It looks different from "then" and surely different from "next", but today we're in the "now". ... Keep Reading...
By
I declare today VIRTUAL BEAR HUG DAY {Who needs a hug?}
I don't know about you, but I know a lot of people who just need a big ol' bear hug about now. Here we are—92 days into 2020—and most everything we "thought" we knew about the year ahead (back on January 1) is off the table. Am I right? Instead, we're in the middle of a global pandemic, and every day seems to bring new recommendations, challenges, and stresses. Since social distancing doesn't allow giving those much-needed bear hugs in person, we're just going to have to get creative about our caring. How about this? I declare today—April 1, 2020—VIRTUAL BEAR HUG DAY But feel free to observe it every day until this COVID-19 crisis is behind us! To get you started, ... Keep Reading...
