Welcome from
Eric O. Ledermann
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Hey! Thanks for stopping by. Pour yourself a cup o' jo, take a load off your feet, and check out what's here. You are looking at my ramblings about issues of faith, life and culture—they are my own and are not necessarily shared by those with whom I work, live or otherwise engage.
Heck, a week from now I may not even agree with what I write here! The Spirit of God is always moving; always shaping and reshaping, transforming and re-forming, each of us according to God's hope and vision for humanity. I hope we may be able to listen, pay attention, and respond faithfully. To steal a phrase from our UCC sisters and brothers: "God is still speaking."
Feel free to share your comments and engage in any conversation that may be happening here, but just know that I do reserve the right to delete any spam or anything I deem inappropriate or offensive. I look forward to dialoguing with anyone who cares to dialogue!
Peace and blessings,
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Warning: This is a bit of a rant. Sorry. If you are reading this, some of this may upset you (especially if you are a member of the church I serve). But, I think in my ranting a perpetual realization has propped up its annoying head. If you’re interested, read on…
It’s day 4 of this “My Life in Pictures� project, and I forgot to take a picture today—not a good record. Since I have no picture and today was a busy day, and I need to blow off some steam, I’m offering this rant and the insights I may have gained from my rant.
Tonight a committee meeting was scheduled. Out of seven people who were supposed to be there, one besides me showed up. It had been scheduled for two months. I sent out [...]
This past year Bruce Reyes-Chow took one picture every day for a year to document his life and allow the rest of us a glimpse into his life as the moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He is also an avid blogger and has invited others to do the same and a few have taken him up on his invitation. I hesitated-gosh that seems like a lot of work to stay consistent and to remember to take and post a picture every day. But, after some consternation (about 5 minutes), I figured what the heck! Let’s give it a try. You can see who has taken up his invitation on his blog.
So, today, Jan. 2, 2011, I begin the project of “My Life in Pictures”. I hope to post one picture each day. They may be random, inspiring, odd, disturbing, or just play [...]
One of the things I love about the congregation I serve is their intentionality about celebrating and honoring the liturgical seasons, especially Lent. Often Lent seems to be a time of just giving up chocolate, or caffeine, or soda. But, here, Lent is truly a season of prayer, repentance, and reflection. Though in the first centuries of the Christian Church it was a time for new believers to fast and prepare themselves to be received into the community of faith on Easter, others within the already established Christian communities began adopting Lenten practices of fasting and prayer in solidarity with the new believers.
Every year, a small group of women plan and present a series of Lenten reflections. Beginning the second Thursday after Ash Wednesday, and every Thursday following, they offer Lenten Quiet Nights-services of silence, briefly spoken words, singing, and prayer. The services are brief, followed by simple meals [...]
The following was a sermon I preached this past Sunday, Palm/Passion Sunday. We read the Gospel of Mark’s account of Jesus entering Jerusalem and the entire Passion narrative.
Mark 11.1-11Mark 14.1-15.47
Scripture is a funny thing: we are charged to read it, ingest it, and make it a part of who we are as God’s children. Yet, there is so much that it is overwhelming to take it all in! Then there are those texts that we have become very familiar with, like the birth narratives of Jesus, the passion narratives, or even the creation stories in Genesis. In fact, sometimes they can seem so familiar to us that we almost stop paying attention. We stop listening to the details, our familiarity breeds in us a complacency, a loss of wonder at what we are reading, hearing, and experiencing.
It’s like an automatic CD player turns [...]
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