In the Wake of Sorrow
This was the closing song during Good Friday worship at Glenwood Lutheran Church, Decorah, Iowa on April 19, 2019. The tune worked on me for several weeks before the text took shape, and it was a few days later that……
Tag: resurrection
Grow: Advent Day 17
Isaiah 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. (NRSV) A green Shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stump, from his roots a budding Branch. (The Message) To……
Prepare: Advent Day 10
Image credit: https://www.amazon.com/OLIVER-Mortar-Pestle-Unpolished-Granite Luke 23:50-24:5 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, 51had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and……
Live: Advent Day 6
To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go,……
On the Way
This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran Churches, Decorah, Iowa, on September 16, 2018. It’s based on Mark 8:27-38. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson. Mark 8:27-38 27Jesus went on with his……
Scars
What hollowed you?
What emptied you from the inside out?
Who are you now? A spent self?
Can hope live in ashes?
Can joy grow from emptiness?
Can God raise the dead?
Birdsong Alleluia
If the snow were any match
for the strength of April’s sun…
If the sky weren’t endless blue,
clouds undone and on the run…
If the love that lifts us all
weren’t already on the ground—
grace incarnate, mercy’s deed,
flowing river winding round,
pulsing with the truth I’ve seen
and sung
countless times before,
always when it seems an end
what is real is something more:
rainbow arc from pulsing rain
brilliant bloom from blank decay
life from vestiges of grief
hope from endless shades of grey…
…then birdsong alleluia
would have gone unheard today.
I’d have knelt at the altar of despair
and left my offering there.
Instead I raise my newfound voice
with cardinal and robin,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the God of resurrection!
In Our Own Way
This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran Churches, Decorah, Iowa, on April 22, 2018. It’s based on Acts 3:1-4:12. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson. As part of our Northern Lights concert……
You Are Witnesses
This sermon was preached at Glenwood Lutheran Church, Decorah, Iowa, on April 15, 2018. It’s based on Luke 24:36b-48. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson. Have you anything here to eat? This ranks right up……