Tag: Awareness
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Christmas in a train station
One of the crosses that those in pastoral ministry bear, is that we are never able to be with family for the holidays. Holidays are spent with church, with parishioners, with the community of faith. We can certainly celebrate holidays with family, but it is always “Christmas, observed.” For me, Christmas Day is a day…
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“‘…for I am the LORD who heals you.’”
I have a parishioner, I will call him Larry. Larry has been battling cancer for some time, and has seemed to be losing the battle. It has metastasized in different places, and just a few short weeks ago, he did not expect to be here by Christmas. The pain was unbearable even with pain medicine,…
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When it All Comes Together
Half-way through my sermon, I saw about one third of the congregation sleeping, another third appeared to be present in body only (somewhere else in mind), and the final third appeared to be engaged. After the service, I was told that the bathroom was out of toilet paper. It was full before the service. This,…
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this building is a mess
At 8:30pm standing over a flooding floor drain with a wet/dry vacuum trying to control the incessant water is not how I typically picture spending my one day off. However, this is exactly how I spent four and one half hours of my day off: sucking up water, and emptying the bucket. The only redeeming…
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Marginalia of a Past Life
Formerly, I had a habit of making notes in the books that I was reading. This was a way for me to reflect on what I had read and would allow me the opportunity, in a way, to engage in a conversation with the author. It was also a time at which I was young…
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“…God is bigger than the bogeyman…”
For several hours I gazed at the glow from the streetlights which reflected onto the bedroom ceiling. As I listened to the heavy ticking of the second hand of the clock in the next room, I knew that I had to sleep because tomorrow was rapidly approaching. I was unable to calm my mind. I…
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Simple Things Like Coffee
I drink coffee every day, and I drink it all day. I love coffee. I’m not talking about Folgers or Maxwell House, I’m not even talking about Starbucks. I’m talking about good micro-roasted coffee. Always strong, always black. Coffee is not just something that I drink for the caffeine. I love the taste. It provides a…
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Shelter From the Rain
The other day, it was raining outside and I was walking into church. On the sidewalk outside of church, I saw a couple of children from our church: two brothers and their cousin. They came up to me, one of the boys holding an umbrella. As I often do when I speak with children, I…
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Home
Recently, during a rather difficult day, my wife and I were driving back to our flat, and I looked at her and said, “I want to go home.” “We’ll be there soon,” she said. “No,” I said, “my real home.” This, of course, referred to my desire to return to Michigan, the place whence I…
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That Which Gives Us Value
On Sunday mornings, I lead worship at my church. I look out and look at my congregation. Many of them are unemployed, some of them stay on the street, many of them struggle to make ends meet. Many in my congregation are visibly broken and noticeably hurting. We collect an offering, because stewardship is important…
Matthew van Maastricht 