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Jesus’ presence in pain

Lynne Baab • Wednesday December 31 2014

In December three years ago, on a sunny afternoon, I got out my bicycle for a ride. As I pushed off with my left foot, I felt something snap or pop in my left knee. I rode a couple hundred yards slowly, checking to see if I needed to stop riding.

Yes, I definitely needed to stop.

I got home, put ice on my knee and elevated it. I’m not able to take most painkillers, so ice has become my friend. At first my whole knee hurt, but as I iced it off and on the rest of the afternoon and evening, the...

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Two options for what to do when the news overwhelms you

Lynne Baab • Thursday October 9 2014

I've decided to fast for a while from national and international news. I don't view this as a long-term plan, because I'm committed to knowing what's going on in the world so I can pray. But for right now, I'm going to see what 1-2 months without news feels like. In the past few months I've been feeling increasingly overwhelmed and demoralized by the news: Syria, Iraq, Hong Kong, Ebola, the abducted girls in Nigeria and on and on.

The last time I felt this way, I took a different path, and I wrote about it in a blog post right after...

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Psalm for 2014

Lynne Baab • Thursday August 21 2014

The church in Seattle where I served as associate pastor from 1997 to 2004, Bethany Presbyterian, has asked members of the church community to write psalms, so I decided to write one. I’m posting it here, along with some reflection/journaling questions.

Psalm for 2014 by Lynne Baab

Loving God, we’re tired: worn out from multitasking, frustrated by new software and apps, and overloaded with stimulation. We wonder how to nurture friendships in a Facebook age and how to love new Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim neighbors. God, our Creator and Redeemer, be the still point in the turning world. Guide us into your paths and help us embrace the challenges set before us, relying on your grace...

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The Lord's Prayer and Spiritual Practices, part 2

Lynne Baab • Saturday July 19 2014

As an adult, I have seldom prayed the Lord’s Prayer as a part of my personal prayer life, and I have not been in churches that use it regularly. Therefore, I simply haven’t thought of it very often. Earlier this year, a local minister asked me to preach as a part of his series on the Lord’s Prayer. Could I please do a sermon on how the Lord’s Prayer might inform our spiritual practices, he asked. So I began pondering that question.

In my first post on this topic, I wrote about the invitation to intimacy conveyed by the prayer. In this...

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