World-Calm At the time of Advent, words are spoken at the altar that sound as an echo of the past. It seems as if these words no longer fit in our hectic world. What are we to make of the expression the world-calm around us? Where can that calm still be found? When we listen […]
Our priest families are supported through the freely given donations of their congregational members that cover the basics of housing, food, utilities, transportation, health care, etc. One key expense that is not typically included in the priest support is the cost of educating their children. North American congregations have helped to raise money for the […]
Be Mindful of the Breaks… In the Apocalypse, which describes a world in downfall, there are sometimes sudden moments of calm. A power that is stronger than all destruction brings the storm of annihilation to a standstill. As a spectator, you have just a moment to catch your breath before the irrevocable demise of the […]
Poverty and Wealth (Rev.3:14-22) A well-known theologian of the 20th century once said: “God feeds us with hunger and quenches us with thirst.” That is an eloquent and partly true saying, but this truth is usually overshadowed by another reality: we suppress our spiritual hunger with all that chains us to the earth. And we […]
You Have the Name of Being Alive… (Rev. 3:1) When we are tired after a busy workday and look back on what we have done, we are likely to feel the heavy burden of all the obligations we had to fulfill. That is because our pace of life does not allow us to stand still. […]
The White Horseman (Rev. 19) After an exhausting, eventful life, the wish to finally find rest is perhaps as old as humanity. The most common expression of it can be found in our cemeteries. Time and again we see the words chiseled into headstones: “Rest in Peace,” or even “Here Rests…” As if all is […]
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Looking for a Refuge (Rev. 12) A desert is usually a place of loneliness and hardship, a wilderness. Rarely is there water, rarely a sign of life. In early Christianity, the so-called desert fathers lived as monks in the desert for many years, sometimes for the rest of their life. They had to fight a […]
The Armor of God (Eph.6:10-20) In a world full of conflicts and crises, peace has become a concept that usually no longer corresponds with hard reality. In war zones, peace has often become a distant promise, an illusion. In its stead, an expression has developed that is closer to the sobering truth: “armed peace,” a […]
The Wedding Garment (Matt.22:1-14) In our time, many people are living in the illusion that they can step into heaven just as they have lived on earth—straight up to God to tell him that things are not right on earth, and that He has to do something to put them in order. Long ago, there […]