Posts by Betsy Schwarzentraub
Retired Time
Today is my birthday: a watershed year. I have gone through several stages to get used to the thought, but now I’m beginning to embrace it. It has taken a while to acknowledge that television personalities and company executives are usually younger than my husband and me. Our “kids” not only became full adults long…
Read MoreMultitasking
Multitasking is something much of our North American work world takes for granted. I used to be proud of how much of it I could do, in my ministry and in the family. (What can I say? I’m an unrepentant “J” in Myers-Briggs language.) I even excelled in doing it mentally. I used to say,…
Read More‘Tis the Season
By now, those of us who attend worship somewhere most likely have noticed that ‘tis the season for financial commitment programs – what many church leaders call “stewardship campaigns.” It’s when we think about God’s overwhelming generosity of blessings in our lives, and respond by financially supporting God’s work right here on earth, primarily through…
Read MoreFree of Charge
If you love digging into serious theology, this book is for you! It is Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, by Miroslav Volf (2005: Zondervan). Miroslav Volf is not lightweight: Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. At the…
Read MoreGrateful in Wildfire?
Thank You, God! Thank You, thank You. For the past two weeks I have been checking a website every few hours on the spread of a voracious fire immediately surrounding our foothills home. So far our home has been spared. But dozens of homes and scores of outbuildings have burned down, amidst the thousands of…
Read MoreSeeker — Finder — Seeker
Years ago, people used to say the word “seeker” for those who chose not to be affiliated with a church. At first that sounded like a good term to me, since I thought of people who are seeking God, or who are seeking a faith community of some kind in which to belong. But soon…
Read MoreBalancing Act
There’s no such thing as perfect balance – for human beings, anyway. Some Olympians or other world-class performers may be able to achieve perfection for a single routine, a crystalline moment. But we cannot live in an exactly balanced state. It’s always an active rebalancing, one step this way or that. It’s true with ethical…
Read MoreGenerosity at the World Cup
It was a heart-stopping moment. For more than an hour and a half, two of the best soccer teams on the globe battled against one another in non-stop action. Finally Brazil made a goal to win. Colombia had just lost their chance for the World Cup. While thousands of Colombians in the stands were stunned,…
Read MoreExtravagant Generosity – Fun and Faithful Scriptures
Extravagant Generosity Based upon: our extravagantly generous God, the Giver of every good gift, the Source of life and love! (Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, pp. 108-9) A Congregation that Practices Extravagant Generosity: 1. Thrives with the joy of abundance instead of the fear of scarcity 2. Encourages members to grow in the grace of giving…
Read MoreLiving Treasures
This past Sunday I got to preach at Loomis UMC, CA, where they were celebrating “Living Treasures Sunday.” One Sunday each year they honor an older person (or couple) whose life shows what it means to be a joyful, faithful follower of Christ, modeling loving discipleship for future generations. The church hosts a special meal…
Read MoreThe Gratitude Effect
“Gratitude has the power to heal, to energize, and to change lives,” said researcher Robert Emmons at the June 7th Greater Good Gratitude Summit. “We’re here to celebrate the science and the spirit of gratitude.” While gratitude may be a familiar topic in religious circles, these comments came from a professor of psychology at U.C.…
Read MoreFrom Transaction to Trust
What a phenomenal experience we had last week, when more than 500 people gathered to hear about the latest scientific studies and firsthand stories on the benefits of gratitude! Scientists from fourteen studies plus other presenters discussed everything from the chemical effects of gratitude on the mid-brain to its benefits in a range of relationships.…
Read MoreDealing with Possessions
“Too much stuff” can be a challenge at any point in life. I read a terrific article by two newlyweds who discovered a way to “navigate the jungle of wedding gifts,” offered an alternative giving site for their wedding, and worked out some powerful “slow living practices” that they are instigating in their young-adult lives.…
Read MoreTalking Mission
Remember all those church mission statements your congregation has painstakingly writtenover thepast years? Where are they now? I used to have a file drawer full of them, carefully formed in planning retreats, tried for a time and then filed away. But the only really great mission statement is the kind that sets our hearts on…
Read MoreBook Festival Community
The Gold Country Book Festival, in Auburn, California, was a great experience of community. Writing can feel like a solo occupation, so it’s wonderful when writers and readers get together to celebrate the written word. On Saturday, May 17th, the Placer County Library hosted 35 of us local writers in its leafy courtyard throughout the…
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