arts and culture on Halloween

Halloween is the beginning of the holiday shopping season. That’s for women. The beginning of the holiday shopping season for men is Christmas Eve.

The days are shorter, the weather is cooler, and the leaves are changing. Here's some Autumnal inspiration: a poem and five quotes! "Grace" by Wendell Berry Grace by Wendell Berr...

Our culture is no longer banded together by shared beliefs; it’s drawn together by shared spectacles. Like Halloween costumes designed to match the most popular movies, we seek our self-identity insid...

Our culture is no longer banded together by shared beliefs; it’s drawn together by shared spectacles. Like Halloween costumes designed to match the most popular movies, we seek our self-identity insid...

These special holidays give rise to various liturgical calendars that suggest we should mark our days not only with the cycles of the moon and seasons, but also with occasions to tell our children the...

Gracious God, we confess that we think of Easter as the springtime holiday rather than the mystery holiday, the hope-time holiday, the now-its-up-to-us holiday. We’re more at home with bulbs and bunni...

Almighty and most merciful Father, giver of every good and perfect gift, we give you thanks for blessing us so richly with your good Word and the holy Sacraments, and supplying so abundantly all our d...

Praise, glory, and thanks to you, heavenly Father, for the many blessings which you have showered upon us this year. You gave us rain in due season so that the earth brought forth the food we needed. ...

Oh, eternal God, source of all happiness, God of all grace, we want to acknowledge with thankful hearts your undeserved mercies. You make our cup overflow with blessings. You have been our protector a...

Things Are Different: You never know the story By the cover of the book. You can’t tell what a dinner’s like By simply looking at the cook. It’s something everybody needs to know Way down deep inside ...

Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-times take 12 minutes. This is not a coincidence.

In the midst of your striving Your labor Your responsibilities Your hustle Hear the invitation, “Come to the Feast!” Come, eat and drink Come, rest and rejoice Come, dance in the presence of our Gene...

Lord of the Harvest, We give you great thanks for all the work that has been done to make our lives possible. For those who work the fields of the earth to provide us with food, for those who work in...

It was Easter Sunday and the pastor gathered the children at the front of the church to ask them about the meaning of Easter. The pastor was disappointed as he listened to the first response: “Easter ...

Run beloved, run Lay aside every weight Every worry Every excuse Every inner critic shouting against inspiration Lay aside the sin that clings so closely Every self-serving motivation Every self-medi...

God of grace and compassion, love, and mercy ~ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: While there’s no season when we’re not thankful for your love and care, gratitude marks this week in a special way as famil...

We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,— This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Lord of All Creation … Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer: With Thanksgiving close upon us, we’re reminded again of the gifts You have given us by Your grace and mercy: children and grand-children, paren...

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery ...

Almighty God, we praise you for all of the tangible and spiritual mercies you have given to us at all times. You ensure your saving word is preached: comforting, teaching, warning, and convicting us, ...

I talked to the Holy Spirit last night and he didn’t look all well. He was pale as a ghost.

God of grace and glory, compassion and power—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You meet us right where we are at—not asking us to put on any masks, false fronts or airs. You love us just as we are while a...

Ann was a working mother in her 30’s, and one of the millions of women who saw the marshmallow castle on the December cover of a popular women’s magazine. Ann confessed, later, that she felt like a “b...

The atheists have produced a Christmas play. It’s called Coincidence on Thirty-Fourth Street.

Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so freely bestowed upon us. For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea. We thank you, Lord. For all that is gracio...

Leader and people: Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants, give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you ...

God of Grace and Love—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We come to you in prayer knowing that your steadfast love endures forever...and we give You thanks; thanks for the gift of life, the gift of new life...

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.

Oh, most blessed heavenly Father, we adore you, we magnify you, we rejoice in you. We praise your holy name, we lift up our hearts in glad thanksgiving today for all the mercies and blessings of the p...

To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year.