Author Archives: NextSunday Reflections

Joel 2:28-29 As I work on this assignment, I can’t escape the fact that I am writing during the COVID-19 pandemic. I acknowledge this because it is both difficult and necessary for us to imagine better days ahead. In the midst of incalculable suffering and grief, hope persists. Creative use of technology and social media […]

Joel 2:21-27 This passage in Joel is one of the lectionary readings for Thanksgiving Day. You can imagine it being read aloud at a Thanksgiving Service, with its images of lush, green pastures, abundant rain, and vats overflowing with grain and oil. So tied to the land, the people of Israel viewed fruit trees and […]

Joel 2:12-20 My husband John tells a story from elementary school when he and his siblings decided to run away. Although he no longer remembers what inspired the mutiny, he does remember his parents listening to the list of complaints, helping them pack a few snacks, then letting them leave. They hadn’t gone very far […]

Joel 2:1-11 During a recent thunderstorm, the local weather station issued a “take cover” warning, as tornadoes were spotted in our area. My family and I retreated to the basement to wait out the storm. We didn’t know how long we would have to wait, but we passed the time recalling other storms we had […]

Joel 1:11-20 Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle chronicles the first year after her family’s move from Arizona to their farm in Appalachia and their vow to only eat what they can grow themselves or procure locally. They commit to this grow-your-own lifestyle out of environmental and health concerns, but they discover a much closer connection […]

Joel 1:1-10 Years ago, one of our church members led a genealogy workshop. Although this was a passion of hers, she acknowledged that most people aren’t interested in doing this kind of research. Given that, she had one word of advice for us: “If you do nothing else, write down the story of your experience […]

Luke 23:1-5 “Crowdsourcing” is a popular social media practice. Someone posts a question to the unseen mass of people out there and asks for responses. The questioner is usually hoping for interesting information, informed opinions, lively stories, trusted recommendations, or a firm consensus. Sometimes responses from crowdsourcing make it into a sermon or an article; […]

Daniel 6:25-28 Be sure to cite the source. Students, writers, and speakers learn this lesson early on. Claiming someone else’s thoughts or quotations as our own is plagiarism. While the practice may tempt those who’ve stayed up all night struggling to prepare their assignment, indulging in it will more likely lead to punishment than applause. […]

Daniel 6:23-24 My first car was a stick shift. If I was going to go anywhere, I had to learn how to manually shift gears. My mother was a natural at driving my car. She amazed me by moving the gears so smoothly that you barely noticed when she changed from first to second. When […]

Daniel 6:16-22 Augustine once described God’s love by saying, “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” Luke tells us that God supervises our lives and pays attention to every detail, even noticing the number of strands of hair on our heads (Lk 12:7). We are each uniquely important to […]