First Presbyterian Church of Valparaiso

At first glance, Mr. and Mrs. E. were a surprising couple, he a 6 foot 5 inch math and science teacher, she a petite English teacher who with the help of heels might barely have been close to 5 feet tall. Mrs. E. loved words, she loved the literature we studied, the short stories, the plays, the novels, and especially the poetry. More than any other teacher I had in high school, she made us write our own words, our own thoughts and ideas. We wrote essays, we wrote short stori

So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female God created them. And God blessed them. Genesis 1.27-28 This is a powerful depiction of the creation of humanity by a God who not only loves us, but imbues us with God’s very being! The picture is pretty clear: we human beings, each of us, carries within us the Imago Dei, the image of God. So, each of us is a kind of sacrament. We are intended to show forth the grace/love of

During Advent, it was my great pleasure to lead a group—virtually, of course—through discussions of five poems by five poets. Each poem was related in some way to the Christmas story. I taught poetry to college students for 30 years. But having retired nearly six years ago, it had been some time since I’d talked about poetry in any depth. And it was a joy! I’ve always loved poetry. It has become my practice to read a poem or two (or five…) as part of my daily devotions. So I

I guess a cheerful “Happy New Year” is in order. Heck, with all this sheltering-at-home and with each day seeming a lot like the day before and the day before that…and, with my early-to-bed-early-to-rise routine…well, it seems I missed the calendar change when it occurred. However, I have been advised we are in a “new year.” Hurray! 2020 is over! Or, will it be “déjà vu all over again” (a quote attributed to that famous Yankee baseball great Yogi Berra who maybe did, or did n

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” -Isaiah 40:31 What a year 2020 was! That’s really an understatement. When we were ringing in the New Year last year, nobody could have imagined the volume of changes, disruptions, cancellations, postponements and sadness our world would be enduring due to COVID-19. It is highly likely that we all know someone who l