Scripture: Isaiah 10:1-4 Isaiah 10:1-4 speaks against the proud oppressor who creates wicked and unjust decrees. Isaiah asks the corrupt, with power and wealth who are passing these laws, how they can turn aside the needs of so many. These needs of the poor, the widows, the orphans, not unlike those of color and culture […]
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Celebrate the Season with special music at First United Methodist Church of Boulder! Join us for Navidad Nuestra by Ariel Ramírez, performed by the Chancel Choir and Friends with instrumental ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Gerald Holbrook, Director of Music. Argentine composer, pianist, and conductor Ariel Ramírez (1921-2010) was a leader in promoting […]
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Scripture: Isaiah 10:1-4 There is a piece of me that rejoices at this vision where justice is doled out to the unjust, where those who hurt, and harm are given their cosmic due. But the moment those feelings arise, I am haunted by the questions: how do I support iniquitous decrees and oppressive statutes? When […]
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Welcome to the second week of the 2019 Advent Devotional! The scripture around which our devotional writers centered their reflections this week is Isaiah 10:1-4: 1 Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, 2 to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, […]
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Scripture: Isaiah 2:2-4 There have been many changes in our lives over the past sixty-plus years, some more terrifying than others. In 2020 we will be moving to Frasier Meadows’ new apartment complex. This will be a major uprooting after living in the same house for 50 years. Oh, the hidden corners. We are finding […]
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Scripture: Isaiah 2:2-4 The Lord’s House In these verses Isaiah tells of a vision of the Lord’s house with all nations streaming to it and with all nations beating their swords into plowshares and not learning war any more. Was Isaiah thinking of a structure or possibly something else more permanent than a worldly structure? […]
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Scripture: Isaiah 2:2-4 The higher I go up a mountain, the closer to God I feel. Sitting at a lake above 11,000 feet in Colorado I am in awe, of the grandeur, of a sense of presence that surrounds me, of the clarity of mind that is available there. Pure being seems to be all […]
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Scripture: Isaiah 2:2-4 This passage resonates. I remember inspiration from Pete Seeger singing “Ain’t gonna study war no more” in the early 1970’s. I remember admiration for the Plowshares Eight who were jailed over nuclear weapons protests in 1980 (such small acts, but far-reaching in resonance). I recall the pain of a militaristic prayer at […]
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Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-4 I have always deeply loved this vision from Isaiah: peoples from far and wide, of every hue, from every context, journeying together, and joining one another on the hilltop of God. As these newly gathered peoples look down upon the valleys, they see both neighbors and strangers wielding tools of life rather […]
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Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-4 Guns to Gardens In the second chapter of Isaiah, the poem is a prophet’s vision of a hopeful future and how to live to accomplish it. The ancient desire of mankind for peace is in an oft quoted verse from Isaiah 2:4: “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears […]
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