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Prayer, Plain and Simple

By Claudia Mair Burney Wednesday, the second week of Advent “When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and…

Our family includes a dog, but no cat. We hold nothing particular against felines, except that four of the six humans in our house get puffy eyes whenever they’re around. JoJo, our feisty firebrand miniature poodle has another kind of allergy to cats. A cat isn’t an option, but all other things considered, we’d probably…

By Claudia Mair Burney Tuesday, the second week of Advent “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil.” Luke 4:1-2 NRSV If I had to guess, I’d have said that Jesus, full of the…

Today, as President Roosevelt declared it, we remember a “Day that will live in infamy.” On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, an act that pulled the United States into the Second World War, perhaps the darkest, most costly, and civilization-altering conflict in the history of human existence. Oral historian Studs Terkel called it…

I love to eat, so this is wonderful – and dangerous – time of the year. The tastes, the aromas, the subtle textures, even the sight of food fascinate me. I suppose God could have packaged our necessary nutrients in vitamin pills, but he didn’t. He made kiwi fruit and brook trout and new red…

By Claudia Mair Burney Monday, the second week of Advent “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus had also been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my son, the…

By Claudia Mair Burney The second Sunday of Advent “After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, ‘Why have you…

By Claudia Mair Burney Saturday, the first week of Advent “Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on Him. It had been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he…

Prayer doesn’t always require lofty language in a sacred space. It can be richest when it’s simple and spontaneous.  All I need to do is see our ordinary moments as the occasions for communicating with God. One of those simple spaces is my car. A few years ago someone challenged me to begin praying while…

By Claudia Mair Burney Friday, the first week of Advent “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the Inn.” Luke 2:7   One of the biggest myths that I bought into as a…
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