Joy Lutheran Church Ocala, Florida

My Nana, born of German immigrants, made some yummy, memory-sticking foods. Her Pennsylvania Dutch chicken corn soup, stuffed cabbage, beef pot pie, and corn fritters were wonderful tummy fillers, I often try to replicate.

Chicken Corn Soup, I have mastered. Stuffed Cabbage I can duplicate too, but the pot pie with her delicious homemade noodles is a bust for me, so are the corn fritters. I try, but my fritters are thick, fluffy pancakes and I can’t flip mine with a two-pronged fork, as I had watched her do so many times. Her thin pancake-like fritters were so light and mouthwatering.

The way these memories are tucked in my mind’s file made me think about my Sunday School teachers who had us memorize Bible verses. Ever wonder why they did that? Yes, we would recite them and earn bookmarks, or certificates, or a glow in the dark cross for our nightstand, but there was another reason. Just as I can recall the tender motions of my loving Nana as she prepared these yummy meals, I can sift through my memory file for beloved Bible verses. What comfort the meals bring and what amazing blessings and comfort our Lord’s words bring. Tucked into my heart a much-needed verse will rise to fill me with joy, with God’s unconditional love for me, and the comfort of His presence. The Lord’s Prayer, the Twenty-third Psalm, The Beatitudes, who knew, these and others would live in my mind and heart and bring the Lord even closer and more comforting than Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn Soup.

Jill

I tried titling this “ourself” – but the squiggly red underline told me that wasn’t a valid word. News flash to me: that word is meant to be plural, for we have many selves. It’s how I explain the Trinity – three persons of equal importance. I hope you have found the time and place every day to simply sit and take notice of yourself. The many selves that comprise your identity. I do not mean to suggest that you are schizophrenic. There are aspects of ourselves that we feel okay about, and others that we know need work. Aside from this forty day season known as Lent in which we give up something that is pleasurable, it is also the season that brings those less than desirable qualities to the forefront. We don’t know what to do about them. Pray them away? Do the hard work of change? Shrug our shoulders and say “that’s just me”?

We can seek, study, and listen to understand, to be enlightened. We can change our situation instead of complaining. We can permit our friends to challenge and question us. When we sit with ourselves we are never alone. Angels, Jesus, the Holy Spirit are ever present. Unconditional love recognizes the me, myself, and I. It also encourages we, ourselves and you to allow time and space to sit alone in prayer, devotion, adoration, and meditation.

So that you, me, and others yet to be met become one in Christ Jesus.

Pastor Art 

Has life thrown any stones at you recently?  They may have been stones of criticism or setbacks.  Perhaps you faced obstacles or challenges that seemed insurmountable.  Sometimes it’s just a pebble, but other times it’s boulder size – right at us.

Life has a strange way of testing us.  Just when we think we have it all figured out, it throws a stone.  What can we do?  Sometimes we’re tempted to throw a stone back at the one who hurled it at us.  But that’s sure to escalate the situation.  We may want to just sit at the bottom of the ditch, bruised and broken.  Or we can gather those stones and start building our way out, it’s a challenge.   

Jesus has another way.  Catch that stone.  Resist the urge to throw it back and accept the criticism or challenge.  Then lift it right up to Him.  Give it up.  Turn it over.  Whatever words you use, give up that stone to the Almighty.  I think of the familiar words:  I can’t do this God, but you can!   We can’t crawl out of the pit by ourselves; we can’t do it alone!  Jesus will take our burden.  He will relieve us and give us the strength to keep walking on our journey of life.  In the words of the Psalmist …

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.”  Psalm 68:19

Judy

Romans 8: 18-21 says, “That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.”

We all experience hard times.  Some of us have lengthy spells of hard times.  Many feel their hard times have lasted a lifetime. Trusting in our dear Lord needs to be a top priority for each and every one of us.  His promises can be trusted and Paul reminds us in this passage that whatever we are experiencing now, illness, pain, job loss, death of loved ones, war, terror, famine, financial woes, trials and tribulations of great magnitude…. NONE of this compares to the joy and goodness that is coming.

Believe in Him and study His Holy Word.  Your strength and trust will grow and you can bear the pain, trauma and weakness. With joyful anticipation, know HE loves you unconditionally and never leaves you.  You are not alone. Give yourself to God, He will strengthen you and be with you through your “pain and trials.” Allow yourself to look forward to the joy that is coming. We cannot fathom the glorious times ahead.

Joyfully waiting ~ Jill

Noah stands out in the Bible as a powerful example of faith and obedience. He chose righteousness when nearly everyone around him had turned away from God. In the midst of the corrupt and violent world, God, because of Noah’s faithfulness, entrusted him with the tremendous task of building an ark to preserve life before the great flood.

Noah trusted God completely. Even when the world had never seen such a thing, Noah proceeded to follow God’s instructions to complete this monumental task, He followed every command with patience, perseverance and unwavering faith.

We too live in a corrupt and violent world as generations before us have. Many ignore or reject God’s way as they did in Noah’s time. As believers today, we should try to emulate Noah’s example and stand firm, remain faithful and obey God even when we do not understand.

I found this little piece when going through my papers. I hope it brings a smile to your face.

Everything I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Noah

1. Don’t miss the boat.
2. Remember, we are all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
4. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
5. Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
6. Build your future on high ground.
7. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
8. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The turtles were on board with the cheetahs.
9. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
10. When you are stressed, float a while.
11. No matter the storm, when you are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting.

Noah teaches us that obedience matters, even when it is difficult. When we trust God and walk in His ways, we become instruments of His purpose. Just as Noah’s faith helped preserve life, our faith can be a witness that brings hope to the world around us. Thanks be to God!

Patty

The spiritual concept of being born again is sometimes difficult to explain in prose. Here is a beautiful simple poem that tells me all about the process. Sometimes we must suspend the logic and surrender to the power of God in our lives. 

 
“BORN AGAIN 2”
by Steve Garnaas-Holmes (2026)

You must be born again from above. 
— John 3:7 
 
I am not self-made. 
I am your creation, God. 
 
I am not the product of my accomplishments. 
My life flows from your Spirit. 
 
I am not the way I have always been. 
I am being changed. 
 
My failures and mistakes don’t cling to me. 
I am forgiven. I can begin anew. 
 
I’m not all-wise. I don’t have seniority. 
I am a beginner. 
 
I don’t need to accomplish any more 
than a newborn infant. 
I delight you simply by being. 
 
I am not afraid of threat or danger. 
You are giving me life in this moment, 
and this moment, and this, 
born again… and again… and again… 

Your Spirit rebirths itself in me 
every moment, every breath. 
 
I allow you to create me, 
new, over and over. 
 
I am just now opening my eyes, 
seeing for the first time, always. 
 
My whole life, always renewing, 
always given. 

— Steve Garnaas-Holmes 

Steve Garnaas-Holmes is a retired Methodist minister who lives in Maine. You can visit the poet’s website to discover more of his work (he writes music, too!) and his book, Unfolding Light. 

This poem was excerpted from a blog by Diana Butler Bass on March 4, 2026, titled “Breathe”. I encourage you to add her blogs (The Cottage) to your spiritual reading list. I have found soul refreshments, laughter and good will in her writings. 

And, of course, remember that God loves you unconditionally! 

Terri 

You can read more about Steve Garnaas-Homes at his website: http://unfoldinglight.net

I thought I knew a lot about prayer, but then I came across this in C. S. Lewis’s book, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly about Prayer. “In fact, I tried to pray without words at all–not to verbalize the mental acts. Even in praying for others I believe I tended to avoid their names and substituted images of them” (p. 11). I never thought about praying that way. I sometimes have a list of people that I want to pray for, but it’s usually just a name I say. It’s different to pray for a person only with an image of them in your mind.

This reminds be of the practice of the Orthodox church to use icons in prayer. I’ve heard icons called idolatrous by some Protestants. It isn’t. The Orthodox don’t worship the physical icon. They think of icons as windows: we are looking into heaven where the holy ones are, and they are looking back at us. It’s a sign of the Communion of Saints.

I’m going to try praying not with words, but just by looking at a picture of someone I want to pray for. First, though, I’ll my mind to God, allowing myself to be aware of the divine presence.

Days later: Well, I tried, without much success. I had the problem I often have in prayer: my mind gets distracted. I have a few moments of concentration, then some irrelevant thought pops on. However, I’m still sharing with you Lewis’s wordless approach in case it might benefit you.

Blessings in your prayer life.

Read Colossians 4:2 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

I’ve been doing some genealogy research for a friend who has many Quakers among her ancestors.  I’m finding people who truly put their beliefs into action.  They strongly opposed slavery, and because of this they were instrumental in initiating and operating the Underground Railroad.  The lives of black men and families mattered to them.  They were willing to put their own at risk to help.

I’ve often thought of the Quakers more in terms of what they would not do.  They would not take an oath or serve in the military.   They were seen as “different.”   But I’m finding they were also “different”  in terms of what they would do.  Originally called the Society of Friends, a key Quaker belief is that the presence of God exists in every person, man or woman.  They would play a key role in both the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.  Theirs was a faith in action.

It made me think deeply about my personal faith.  Is it a faith in action?  Does it linger within the walls of my church?  Does it dally among folks that look like me and act like I do?  Or does it extend to those who do not look like me? Is it open to those who do not think like me or do I turn to being judgemental?  It’s food for thought.

This beautiful hymn seems to express it well.

Judy

An advanced degree, it is called. Going beyond, almost all the way in academia. The Masters. When sportscaster on CBS Jim Nantz says those words, it sounds like paradise opened up. One of pro golf’s majors, played on the beautiful, full of spring bloom Augusta National Golf Club course in April.

The Masters degree is one I hold with deep humility. I was never very scholarly, never made Dean’s List, only the honor roll a couple of times. Maybe it was pressure or nerves or barely-tapped-into psychological stuff.

Associate’s degree? Not much to it. I commuted daily from home for twenty-one months. My Bachelor’s was earned through three years of night school.

Master of Divinity, says the title.

Perhaps an achievement more of survival than of brains.

Our Great Teacher showed (shows) us a more excellent way, which is to be a master of living. Jesus worked a carpenter trade, but when he fished for and then shaped men, He became the Master Builder. No room for personal goals or egos. No Pharisaical judgment or Essene isolation. Not the violent approach of the Zealots.

Yes, the Great Teacher. He who puts us in the classroom, the laboratory of life. We are in constant training mode, involving our physical, intelligent, and mental capacities. Lessons taught in confirmation class. The SAT. Myers-Briggs. Seminary approval panel. Spiritual Gifts questionaire. All of it put into practice in  the ongoing life experiment of trying, failing, then succeeding. All by God’s grace.

Whether it’s the SAT, seminary approval panel, or Myers-Briggs, or spiritual gifts questionaire. God will continue molding us, unconditionally loving us,and, when we one day die in faith, we will become Masters of Living.

Some days are dark with hatred, discrimination and violence.  We feel overwhelmed and helpless.  We watch as some speak out, some engage in non-violent protests, and some are actively calling their congressmen to express their opinions.   All are good things.   But here in this community of the retired and elderly, some of us wonder if there’s anything WE can do that would “calm the waters” so to speak

I recently read a posting by Anne Lamott, an American novelist, nonfiction writer, speaker and activist who is known for blending humor with spiritual reflection.   Posing the question, “What can one do to help hold back the darkness?”  She answered, “We can shine a little brighter.” 

Like the lighthouse that shines through the storms to save the ships at sea, we can let our light shine a little brighter.  How?  We could start with gratitude for all the good that remains in our lives: our friends, the good people of America, the beauty of our land.  We can be happier if we take care of ourselves and help to care for the poor and suffering in any way that we can.  Maybe it’s donating food, maybe a phone call to someone who is lonely, even a troublesome family member who is really just a lonely soul.   As we appreciate God’s blessings we find joy.   Joy that can shine through us.

Our individual contribution of light may seem insignificant, but we can only do what we can do.  Together these rays of light do shine.  A small spirit of thanks to the God who loves each us of unconditionally.

Judy