Pastor’s Blog
Keep up with Susie Grade’s latest musings on life in Denver, Spirituality, and her vision for Platt Park.
(Please note the following links will forward you to her external blog)
If you and I have spent any amount of time together lately, you’ve probably caught me talking about the novel Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. To me, it is an unforgettable story. One scene that took my breath away is between two orphan kids. They are swapping their life stories one night when we read […]
Dear friends, I’m not sure if this note is for you or for me today. Maybe us both. I feel inclined to say: don’t try so hard. Have you ever been laying in bed with so much tension and concern holding you up that it seems as if someone could come take the mattress away […]
In the opening pages of the Bible we have this chorus, this refrain, in creation. God is making, making, making — making the world and everything in it. The Creator is creating all the things on this planet. Like a song of praise sung on repeat, upon completion of each thing, God says “it is […]
When asked how to live, Abba Anthony of the 3rd century said there are 3 things to keep in mind: You won’t meet many people urging you to stay where you are today. We live in a world that values self-actualization and taking matters into our own hands. Usually, we applaud when people are leaving […]
“Do not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” — Hebrews 10:25 On two separate occasions I have had old friends reach out to me on their deathbeds. In both cases, we had totally lost […]
“I am beginning to see that much of praying is grieving.” — Henri Nouwen Pastors rarely forget that they are pastors, but we often seem to forget that we are people. Maybe it’s the same for all the helping professions, that tendency to become so preoccupied with others that we forget to be human too? Oh […]
Death cannot interrupt eternal life. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. — Jesus We often talk about eternal life as something that begins after we die, but that is not how Jesus spoke of it. Jesus said […]
It seemed irrational to me at first — the energy of his response. I try to keep a neutral face in these moments, not wanting to convey that an 11-year-old-sized problem is suddenly now a 47-year-old-sized problem too. I wish to be like a detective in these moments of parenting, to try to search for […]
I’m sitting here in the Arizona shade. It’s spring and the desert is in bloom. Yesterday I was in Denver, and if you have allergies this might not be your favorite time of year. Flowers everywhere, so many colors and smells all over the place. I’m turning over the words of Rumi this morning when […]
Last Sunday our kids got baptized. They were nervous. They both wanted to be baptized, but they were unsure about the public part – being in front of a bunch of people. They wanted to know which service had fewer people in it. “The first service at 9am,” I told them. Even moments before the […]