Rev. Susan Graceson, Associate Pastor, shared her story of faith and belonging last week during
Immanuel’s Real World, Real Faith series. As part of her presentation, she shared a poem she wrote shortly after her wedding in August of 1996. Susan and her husband, David, married in her parents’ backyard in Kentucky; her father (do we want to include his name?) had recently been diagnosed with cancer. A few weeks after herwedding, Susan’s father died.

Spiritual questions are not easy: Who am I? Why does suffering happen? How do I decide what to do next? This week, we offer three books based on deeply spiritual questions from Immanuel’s Godbook recommendations. Click here to search the Immanuel library! Click here to recommend a book yourself! Click here to search the Godbook archives….

By sharing our sorrows, our pain, our joys, our hopes, we allow our true selves to be seen by others and we become open in way that enables others to be the face and presence of God right here with us.

The 23rd Psalm says that God prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies. I have wondered who those people might be. I think of faceless enemies, arrayed around the wall, not at the table. The psalmist did not say I would share the table with them, necessarily, but that they would see that I have a source of health and well-being, protection and love.

2 Timothy 1: 3-5 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived…

For Holy Week, Immanuel has created a series of online devotionals. Each devotional is adapted from a
monologue written by Rev. Aaron Fulp-Eickstaedt. Immanuel will perform these monologues and others at this year’s Maundy Thursday service (April 13, 7:30 pm).