World Communion Sunday created an opportunity for reflection on theologies of communion and community in a new era of ministry. The following is a sermon I preached at Glendale Baptist Church on October 2, 2022. ++++++++ Philippians 4: 1-9 4:1…
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Hello there! My name is Eileen Campbell-Reed, and I’m the founder and host of Three Minute Ministry Mentor. This first Sunday in Advent is a big day. Twelve years ago on this day, I launched this blog. It was originally…
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Sometimes life and loss and longing and love are more than our words can contain. Through these challenging days, only a prayer of silence is enough. Because the deep peace of silence is all that can hold life as it…
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Merry Christmas! On the brink of this changing season, I offer to you, dear friends, my blessing, and I pray for peace and purpose to take hold in your minds and hearts. I hope with you for healing and for…
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Feedback This month I’ve been taking a class in creative non-fiction over at The Porch. A dozen or so women sit around a big plank table each week, and we talk about delicious classics like “You Blow My Mind! Hey,…
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This weekend I had many joys at the 29th Annual Southern Festival of Books! On Sunday afternoon, I met renowned and delightful Southern author of ten novels, Clyde Edgerton. He read from his current work and told stories. He even sang…
Read MoreToday’s date inspired a nested poem this morning.* As the Department of Justice Report on the Ferguson police department comes out this week, two executions are postponed in Georgia for Kelly Gissendaner and Brian Terrell, and the fiftieth anniversary…
Read Morerain after days on end of mercury topping the charts it is sweet relief waking to soft drumming rain on leaves outside my window low clouds churn and roil and my daughter says to the thunderthat’s the sound of my…
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Blessed Mary of the Broken Pot ** You preside over the blessedness and the brokenness of the world. You are Sophia, the wisdom of God and space-maker for the birth of all things sacred. With blood and marrow, tears and…
Read MoreSlowing Down* Tuesday Morning – I’m out for a run in the neighborhood around the seminary. The day dawns clear and pleasant. I check my watch and calculate. I’ve got 30 minutes before I have to be back and showering…
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Read Morefirst daffodil first daffodil of the season tilts her head shyly whispering a promise of spring luminously shining like the sun itself surrounded only by shades of green making me long for a life that shines so cleanly so simply so…
Read MoreBehold the Beauty Last night the moon rose behind a scrim of swiftly moving clouds racing off to the east like they had an engagement not to be missed meanwhile back here on the ground the warm breath of an…
Read More“Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.” (Anne Sexton) This is the work of Advent. If I can listen to my own soul* and give you even an inkling of what I hear, I have given a gift far greater than all the stuff or the fluff that fills most of the sound and fury of our waking hours. But giving this sort of authentic self revelation to those with whom we are already most familiar. . . now that is a challenge.
Read MoreThis morning’s run along the Harpeth River brought birds from out of the bushes and trees. As the last leaves skittered up the path before me, the sun was shining, and the wind alternated between a steady breeze and great gusts. Overhead and along beside me crows complained, red-winged blackbirds swirled, a hawk circled two times, doves mourned, and other smaller birds busily prepared for colder days ahead.
Read MoreA Walk Down to the Lake
Deadline days
fill my mind with words and work
and give me tunnel vision
So when a small break between projects opens up . . .
This week’s floods in Nashville, Tennessee have been overwhelming to many and devastating to others. So much has been lost . . . lives, homes, livelihoods. In comparison to the magnitude of losses that others have felt, my family has mostly been inconvenienced. Still I am struck by the sheer force of it all. Water has such incredible power for both good and tragedy. Reading this week’s lectionary texts, water is at every turn. You’ll hear echoes of those scriptures in this short poem . . .
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