Faith in the Cracks
Episodes
167 episodes
Summer Rhythms
Summer brings a change in temperature and also a change in the rhythms of life. Let's pause to remember the differences and the joys of summer and remember that the pace of life sometimes means to slow down and enjoy the world around you. ...
Let Go and Let God
Sometimes I struggle to let God handle things. I pray and I try to surrender worries or problems that are beyond my control, but I find that often, way too often, I pick them back up...repeatedly. Why is it so hard to let God handle life's big ...
Why are you standing there?
The story of the Ascension of Jesus in Acts 1 is one of my favorite. There is a line where the angels have appeared alongside the disciples who have watched Jesus ascend and they ask "Why are you standing looking toward heaven?" Basically, it i...
Unknown Yet Known
In Acts 17, Paul encounters an altar to an unknown god in Athens. He then goes on to talk about the God he knows. The God Paul speaks of cannot be confined to temples or altars, his God is bigger and more mysterious and unknown, yet at the same...
Tended
Psalm 23 is a familiar passage for many. It is a reminder that we are tended by the Great Shepherd. What does it look like to allow ourselves to be tended? To be led and restored. To know we do not walk through darkness alone, but that God is a...
Happy Easter!!
Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!And pastors everywhere are tired. Many services but a good tired. The joy of Easter is that love triumphs. The women found the empty tomb and in their fear they were also overjoyed. May we go...
Hosanna to Hallelujah
As we enter Holy Week, many churches were filled with shouts of Hosanna! and people waved palm branches. Some churches also read the passion story of Jesus before Pilot. And while some churches will observe Holy Week and hold services on Maundy...
Three Essential Things
In her book "The Soul's Slow Ripening" Christine Valters Paintner talks about the practice of Three Essential Things. Finding those values that speak to who we are called to be in a particular season of life. Those things may change as we move ...
Learning By Heart
Do you remember memorizing things when you were growing up? Poems, Bible verses, songs? There is a difference when we memorize things and when we learn them by heart. To learn something by heart, we let it become a part of who we are, we know i...
The Now and Not Yet
Sorry about last week. But honestly, it felt garbled and haywire. This week has not been much better. The war, the rising cost of things, the human lives lost. We are not yet in the Kingdom of God. We are not yet to the fulfillment of the promi...
Wilderness
The beginning of Lent starts with Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days before being met by the adversary. Hungry and tired, Jesus is met with tests that begin with If you are the Son of God...prove it. Yet Jesus knows that his identity i...
From Light to Lent
On Transfiguration Sunday, we stand on the mountaintop — glimpsing the radiant glory of Christ before turning toward the ashes of Lent. In this episode, we explore the movement from light to dust, from revelation to repentance, and from spiritu...
you are...
In Matthew 5 as Jesus continues his sermon on the mount, he tells those listening "You are the salt of the earth;...you are the light of the world." Not you will develop into these things, but you are. You already have what it takes to flavor t...
St. Brigid and the Groundhog
We are at the turning point of winter. This time has been recognized by many cultures, across many centuries and across many continents. Imbolc, St. Brigid's Day, Candlemas and Groundhog Day all arrive in the first days of February and mark a t...
The Next Faithful Step
In Matthew’s Gospel, the first disciples leave their nets, their boats, and their families to follow Jesus—immediately. What gives someone the courage to step away from what’s familiar into the unknown? In this episode of Faith in the...
Negative Peace
What does peace really mean when justice is unfinished?In this episode of Faith in the Cracks, we listen again to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and reflect on his warning about “negative peace”—th...
Dug In
In this episode of Faith in the Cracks, a scene from War Horse becomes a mirror for our own moment: two enemies stepping out of the trenches to show compassion in the middle of war. Reflecting on recent events in Minnea...
From 2025 into 2026
As 2025 comes to a close, we pause to reflect on where faith has met us this past year. May we look back and see God at work in our lives. And as we look ahead to 2026, let us trust that God has gone ahead and as we ask God to make ways were th...
Christmas
Joy and Light have been a theme in the previous weeks. this week, we welcome the joy and the light of the Christ Child into the world. May we step back from the crazy of Christmas as see God's presence in the fragile and vulnerable Christ Child...
The Growing Light of Advent
As we enter the 4th week of Advent and as we are in midst of Hannukah, light continuing to grow is a central them. With recent events like the shooting in Australia, we see darkness rear up, but we are reminded that light, although it starts sm...
Advent
Advent is the first season of the liturgical year in the church. It is a time when we wait for the Christ child to be born again and we wait for Christ to come again. It is a time when we wait and we talk about where God is at work in us and ar...
Thanksgiving
The Apostle Paul in writing to the young churches of the New Testament always expresses his gratitude for them. Amidst the conflict in the communities and the turmoil of Paul's life, he always gave thanks. Gratitude can steady us in stress and ...
Falling Leaves
If you have been outside, you have noticed leaves everywhere. Bags of them on the side of the street, leaves still covering the lawn, and leaves lazily floating downward. They remind me of God's relentless grace. Leaves keep coming, like God's ...