. . . and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen as its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. Matthew 2:9b, 10.

This is my last week of alleged vacation before I start “for real” at Holy Trinity. So, even if it meant missing my daily routine in the YMCA therapy pool, I was determined to sleep in this morning. Naturally, I woke up at 4:50 a.m. . . .

[ January 15, 2010 to January 16, 2010. ]

[ April 3, 2009; 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. May 1, 2009; 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. June 5, 2009; 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. February 5, 2010; 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. March 5, 2010; 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. ] Join the women of Holy Trinity for an evening out on the town every first Friday. No boys allowed. Info: Chere’ Hair @ ckhair59@gmail.com or 768.1871.

Prothero notes that at their best, the denominations that had long sustained memberships offered different visions of the good life. “Absent a chain of memory that ties us to these religions’ ancient truths, these visions are lost, and we are left to our own devices, searching for God with as much confusion, as we search, in love, for the next new thing.”

Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke, 2:10-11.

When I was a little girl, I loved the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. From one of these stories, I learned my first bedtime prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord, my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Well. That’ll keep a kid up all night.

Welcome to Cop15, the UN Conference on Global Warming being held in Copenhagen. Denmark is not easy to forget. In the first place, every school child knows the tales of fearless, seafaring Danes. In the second place,every traveler remembers Copenhagen as the city of $20.00 hamburgers and $40.00 seven minute taxi cab fares. Copenhagen is, in fact, the second most expensive city in the world, just slightly less expensive to live in than Oslo. But that will be nothing compared to the price the world pays for this conference.

. . . blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. Luke 1:45.

One of the first things I learned about pastoral care was to be very, very careful about making promises. The few times I did, it seemed like everything in my life conspired to make me break them. Better to be vague-I’ll see you next time-than to promise someone who’s lonely, or sick, or depressed that you’ll be back tomorrow, then stand them up because the water heater blew up or the car won’t start. And for the dying woman, even the off-hand “see you soon” has the weight of a sworn oath. Do you really want her to linger in suffering to fulfill your expectations of a “next time”?