Pastoral Ponderings

Dear God,    Racism and Discrimination are the ugly step-siblings of all that is beautiful in your world.  It seems, when I look through human history, that these siblings are ever-present in human history.    Why is that?  After all,

Dear God,    The Psalmist asks, “How do we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”    I know I’ve talked with you about this before, but that question keeps going through my mind.  How do we “Do church”

Dear God,    “Help us!”    I wonder if that isn’t the most fundamental prayer of all humanity?     But then when I thought about it, I realize there’s an even more fundamental prayer:    “Help me!”    As a

Extra! Extra!  Read all about it! Congregational Worship Services Suspended Dear God,      Come on, admit it God.  Haven’t you once, just once, prayed for a “snow day”?       Remember when you were a kid (Well, maybe all the human

Dear God,    Your world is in the midst of a crisis.  Surprisingly, there are still people who say this is a crisis created or made worse by “The Media.”  Since “The Media” has become a favorite whipping boy for

             Dear God,              You may have heard that I’m retiring.              Actually, I know it sounds funny to some people, but I believe you’ve been telling me to do so. My prayer life, even in it’s worst days, is

Dear God,      What will the New Year bring? We’ll see.      There’s a parable I’ve read many times over the years which helps me to place all things in perspective and look at life with a sense of allowing

Dear God,      As I write this, we stand a scant four weeks before Christmas. Amazing!      I’m thinking of something you can get me for Christmas, Lord: a Dick Tracy-styled time gadget for my wrist. It needs to be

Dear God,              So, imagine this. I, me, Dan Herman, The Amazing One (i.e. “What were you thinking?” to my parents), the Thing (to my sisters), Thor (to the carpenters who saw me wield a hammer), Hercules (to my children),

Dear God, Six years old is not old! That’s what I told the computer guy when he told me Carm’s “old” Apple laptop wasn’t worth fixing. Six years old! He said, “I might be able to fix it, if I