Blog
Palm Sunday, Who is This?
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” Read: Matthew 21:1-11 Palm branches waving. Loud hosannas ringing. Quiet hallelujahs humming. Jesus comes. A hero,...
The Spirit in Red Things
The Spirit in Red Things by Miran Tirabassi And the Holy Spirit hovers over the water and whispers – this year let us speak of good news with all the red things that are not...
Book Circle
FOR 2025 PRAYER BENCH PERSONAL & MORE SUBSCRIBERS Welcome to our Book Circle for 2025. I need information. Whether you plan to take part in the Zoom gatherings or just read the books on your...
End of Year Meditation
End of Year Meditation Begin by settling yourself. Be where your feet are. Here. Now. Take a deep breath in and slowly release it. Listen to the beating of your heart. Feel the natural rhythm of...
Longest Night
"The Night of the Seven Suppers" | "Oidhche nan Seachd Suipearan" (Scottish Gaelic) We come to the Longest Night on December 21, the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. I recently learned a...
A Poet for Advent
Sometimes when I invite a friend to share their gift with Prayer Bench, I don't realize the care, effort and attention they give to the task. When I outlined the themes the Prayer Bench Advent...
Advent Staying
One of the early church fathers, St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1050-1153) said there was “a danger of seeing Advent merely as preparation for Christmas.” It’s true. By the time we get to Advent we’re...
Great Gramma
Great Gramma By Shawn Redden My great-grandmother impressed me greatly. Harriet Stowe Johnson Miller was her name. Gramma lived to almost 99. In 1961 at the age of 77, Great Gramma was widowed....
Eco Divina
PAUSE & PONDER "Ever since the creation of the world God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been seen and understood through the things God has made.”...
Trinity
I was awake the night of the full moon. It was beautiful. Full moon in a clear, black sky, Radiance reflected in a band of white light across the Lake, Brightness illuminating...
The Gardener of the Resurrection
[The artwork is Christ Appears to Mary Magdalene as a Gardener, unknown artist, c. 1500] We come to the garden in the morning light.There is a glow of new life. There are butterflies flitting around...
Not Just Back Then
The Gospel of Thomas, an ancient Christian manuscript discovered in 1945, gives us new understanding of Jesus from the Wisdom tradition. It offers these words for the spiritual journey. You hear...
O Christ, the Eagle
O Christ, the eagle, caring for us in our chaos, giving us power for our faintness, supplying strength for our weariness, present with us when we are broken-hearted, ...
Lifting the Eye of the Heart
A meditation on Numbers 21:4-10 & John 3: 14,15 Let’s not get caught up with a God unleashing venomous snakes in a “You think you have it bad now, then try this” ploy. It is, perhaps, how we see...
Yearning to See with the Eye of the Heart
The Iona Community has a prayer that begins: “The knees of the heart we bowin the sight of the God who created us.” It was sometimes a source of laughter when the metaphor made no sense to...