Posts by Michele Crater

DAILY READING Psalm 4 FIELD NOTES When I am feeling overwhelmed or upset, the weight of things always seems to be heaviest at night. Perhaps because the world is silent and I can’t distract myself. Or perhaps it is because this is the time when I am able to be the most honest with myself…

DAILY READING Psalm 93 FIELD NOTES One of my favorite songs, Louisiana 1927, written by Randy Newman and later recorded by Aaron Neville, was about the historic flooding that devastated Louisiana and Mississippi. It describes the floods, but also the pain of feeling the flood waters rising – “Oh Louisiana, Louisiana/ They’re trying to wash us…

DAILY READING Psalm 13 FIELD NOTES This passage in Psalms offers a prayer for relief from despair. Here we see David expressing how important it is to continue to trust in God, and not despair, even when we do not understand our situation or feel an immediate answer from God.  It is important to point…

DAILY READING Hebrews 10:32-39 FIELD NOTES This section of Hebrews discusses an enduring faith in times of persecution. This is a challenging text to discuss because many of us have never experienced a situation that could be considered a “persecution” for our faith. While we do see situations like this happening in contemporary society, such…

DAILY READING Psalm 3 FIELD NOTES In this psalm, David is crying out to God while fleeing from his rebellious son, Absalom. Absalom had marched into Jerusalem to claim the throne for himself and forced his own father, David, to run for his life. It is worth noting that while David was literally fleeing for…

DAILY READING Mark 12:1-12 FIELD NOTES The parable Jesus tells in Mark 12:1-12 took little imagination for its hearers to understand. Unlike most of his parables which cloaked his meaning and caused the hearer to think deeply, this parable’s meaning was obvious to the chief priests, scribes and other bystanders. The imagery Jesus used –…

DAILY READING Colossians 2:6-15 FIELD NOTES “Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong, and vigorous in the truth you were taught.” (Col. 2:7, NLT) I am not much of a gardener, but I do enjoy having fresh herbs outside my kitchen. Several…

DAILY READING 1 Timothy 6:11-21 FIELD NOTES Have you ever played the game where you are given an imaginary sum of money — like a million dollars — and you have to come up with ways to spend it? Maybe you give some to your favorite charity, or you buy a fancy boat and a…

DAILY READING Luke 4:16-30 FIELD NOTES A few years ago I traveled to Israel with a group from our church. It was my first trip there and I was overwhelmed by seeing the actual places where Jesus walked and taught.  One of the most impactful places we visited was Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth. It’s a bustling…