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DAILY READING John 1:10-18 FIELD NOTES Next week, on January 6, we will celebrate “Epiphany” — the twelfth day following Christmas which commemorates the day the wise men from the East visited Jesus and honored him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Merriam Webster’s online dictionary gives us more definitions of the word “epiphany”…

DAILY READING Acts 7:44-53 FIELD NOTES I’ve had the privilege of visiting several amazing and beautiful places of worship through the years — including York Minster in England; St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. When one enters these wonders of engineering, architecture and art, it’s natural to think, “Oh,…

DAILY READING Luke 8:16-21 FIELD NOTES I like to read self-help books. Maybe the topic is time management — learning how to prioritize tasks, get things done, and achieve my highest goals. Or maybe the book is about fitness and health — “growing younger” or following a low-carb diet. I’m especially attracted to any book…

DAILY READING Proverbs 1:1-7 FIELD NOTES I took piano lessons throughout my childhood. Beginning as a first grader who could barely plunk out “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” to my graduating recital when I played Chopin’s “Military Polonaise,” I studied with the same teacher — Mrs. J. Victor Barr. Mrs. Barr was a gentle, kind, sweet-spirited…

DAILY READING Psalm 98:4-9; Luke 1:13-17; 2:10  FIELD NOTES Merry Christmas!!!  “Joy to the World” is a famous Christmas song written by Isaac Watts. The song is a “joyous” celebration of God and the gift of His son, Jesus Christ. In this season of anticipation, we come to celebrate this day when God came to…

DAILY READING Luke 2:7 FIELD NOTES This time of year, I am always reminded that sometimes words get in the way of listening. Sometimes we focus so much on what is being said that we miss why it is being said, the deep meaning behind the words.  When I was young, the Christmas Eve service…

DAILY READING Matthew 1:1-17 John 1:9-13 FIELD NOTES Sometimes a song is as familiar as an old friend, but with that familiarity we can sometimes lose the deep significance of the words we are singing. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is a hymn with roots back to the 15th century that is commonly associated with Christmas, but it…

DAILY READING Luke 2:8-20 FIELD NOTES Based on a poem, written by Christina Rossetti in 1872, the hymn In the Bleak Midwinter imagines the moment of Christ’s birth and how a stable in the middle of the bleak winter was made holy in Christ’s birth. She asks, how can she worship Our Savior, what can she give…