Posts by Betsy Schwarzentraub
Coming Alongside
In the bad old days, cowboys used to “break” horses by using pain to force them into accepting a rider and multiple restraints. Some people still do that to horses. But domination does not produce trust, and horses that have been taught through pain will see the rider as a predator and will always want…
Read MoreMoney Sanity Solutions
Written for “Live Free,” the 2015 issue of Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, by the Ecumenical Stewardship Center When it comes to money, families often go silent out of fear or taboo, or else yell in rancor, born of financial anxiety and family conflict. So how do children learn healthy money habits from…
Read MoreCancer Lessons in Grace
The diagnosis of breast cancer came as a shock. It took several weeks before that wore off, and it occasionally returns at new bends in the road. But the cancer was caught very early and after surgery remained at Stage 1. Even so, there’s radiation ahead (gratefully missing out on chemo) and hormone therapy for…
Read MoreEarth Trek
Written for “Live Free,” the 2015 issue of Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, by the Ecumenical Stewardship Center Earth Trek: Celebrating and Sustaining God’s Creation, by Joanne Moyer (Herald Press, 2004), is a multifaceted gem that offers a variety of practices that care for the earth. Based on the seven days of creation…
Read MoreGrowing and Faith
I’m intrigued as I write the chapter on “Growing as Becoming” for my next book, Growing a Generous Soul. People can measure growth in many different ways, but how do you measure growth in faith? Faith is not a static trait or characteristic. Neither is it a set of beliefs, as in faith in someone…
Read MoreWesley’s Four Corners
What a gift it is to be part of a denomination that does not require assent to a single doctrinal statement! I love how John Wesley’s quadrilateral (Scripture, tradition, reason and experience) can work together as each person thinks through his or her personal theology. I talk about it like four tent pegs holding down…
Read More“Open Hands, Open Hearts”
Mark L. Vincent, lead partner in Design Group International, has continued to offer leaders in our different denominations some outstanding resources for growing generous stewards. One of the latest is “Open Hands Open Hearts,” a private web site for congregations from the Chicago Synod of the ELCA (Evangelical Church of America). It provides some of…
Read MoreEpiphany
The worship season of “Epiphany” emphasizes the ways God’s being and presence are “manifest” or revealed in our lives. We think particularly of Jesus Christ himself as showing us Who God is. But there are countless other expressions of God, as well, including the Scriptures, all of creation, and evidence of the Holy Spirit’s actions…
Read More“Star Child”
I was stunned by Carlton Young and Shirley Murray’s song, “Star Child,” in an Advent worship service this month. Hope Publishing Company brought it out in 1994, but this was the first time I’d heard it, from the songbook The Faith We Sing. It calls Jesus “Star-Child, earth-Child, go-between of God.” Then it identifies many…
Read MoreThe Thin Places
In this past week of devotions, writer Jan Richardson1 shared a beautiful idea from the Celtic tradition: that in certain spots and at specific times, there are “thin places,” where the veil between worlds becomes permeable, and heaven and earth meet. I have a hunch that the veil between earth and heaven, time and eternity,…
Read MoreAnticipation and Advent
“Look ahead but don’t anticipate.” When we’re riding horses, that’s an important lesson to teach. You want the horse to look ahead for what’s coming next, but not to assume he or she knows what you’ll ask for next. One mistake a lot of riders make is practicing a succession of moves so many times…
Read MoreScarcity and Outreach
Now that enough rain has come to fill up our half-acre pond, more Canada Geese have joined the eleven that have waited here through the fall months of drought. The geese are wild, but those who have been with us the longest recognize my call before I throw out the scratch. They start venturing up…
Read MoreMusic as Gift
“The one who sings prays twice.” I’ve come to confirm that old adage. There’s something powerful about music that speaks to a deeper place in the soul than words alone can reach. Music brings joy to my heart! I grew up loving Western classical music and have returned to it in recent years. But I’ve…
Read MoreStretching the Mind
One of the joys in life for me is learning from The Teaching Company (www.thegreatcourses.com). The folks at The Teaching Company provide scores of college-level courses in audio and video formats in a mind-expanding range of subjects, taught by professors from all over the world who have been awarded for their teaching style. My brother…
Read MoreGiving Tuesday
What a beautiful gift some anonymous donor has made for the United Methodist “#GivingTuesday”! For the one day of December 2, every gift made online to The Advance at www.umcmission.org/give will be matched, up to $1 million. “The Advance” is a collective term for hundreds of grassroots United Methodist mission projects in the U.S. and…
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