Scripture: Ruth 1:20 – “She said to them, ‘Call me no longer Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.’” (NRSVue)...

Scripture: 2 Kings 20:19 – “Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not,...

Scripture: Psalm 39:2-3a – “I was silent and still; I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse; my heart became hot within me.”...

Scripture: Hebrews 3:13 – “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by the...

Scripture: Job 2:13 – “They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his...

Scripture: Proverbs 27:10 – “Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred in the day...

Scripture: Proverbs 22:13 – “The lazy person says, ‘There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!’” (NRSVue)   My wife is...

Proverbs 19:25 – “Strike someone who scoffs, and a naive person will become clever; correct someone with understanding, and they will...

Scripture: Song of Solomon 8:6 – “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, passion fierce...

Scripture: James 1:13 – “No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself...

Scripture: 1 Kings 3:26 – “But the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because compassion for her son burned within her, ‘Please,...

Scripture: 2 Samuel 14:28 – “So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem without coming into the king’s presence.” (NRSVue) When should...

Scripture: Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (NRSVue) We all dream about winning the lottery,...

Scripture: Psalm 61:2 – “From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…”...

Scripture: Colossians 1:17 – “He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (NRSVue) There are times when the...

Scripture: Numbers 2:12-13 – “And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the Simeonites shall be Shelumiel...

Scripture: Psalm 18:2 – “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the...

Scripture: Acts 27:31 – “Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.’” (NRSVue)...

Scripture: Exodus 6:6-7a – “Say therefore to the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and...

Scripture: Psalm 108:2 – “Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.” (NRSVue) In a world that is always lurching dangerously to...