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Waiting
Pastor Julianne D Smith Advent has always been one of my favorite seasons of the Church year. Not because it leads up to Christmas. Not because of Advent calendars that come with chocolate or tiny bottles of liquor. And, certainly not because of the constant bombardment of ads telling us what Christmas is really all…
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Being charitable to others
When it comes to relationships, I don’t think anyone really wants to be at odds with others. Do we? I don’t think we wake up in the morning and wonder how many people we can irritate this day. I could be wrong about that. Within the past few months I have to admit that I…
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Moving forward
Pastor Julianne DiRocco Smith Yesterday was our nation’s 2024 General Election. It might have been the most watched election in our country’s history. There were a lot of moving parts. I know when I went to bed last night, I was hoping to wake up to news that we elected a woman as president, and…
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Talking Politics, or Not
At the end of 2020 I spent a lot of time with my brother and sister when we visited with our mother who had fallen ill. Our brother had moved in with her to be her primary caregiver. My sister and I came as we were able. The 2020 presidential election came and went without…
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Encountering Racism
Growing up, I was not very aware of racial matters. Or maybe more to the point, I wasn’t exposed to racism, except in rare instances. The first time I realized that some people had problems with skin color was when I was visiting family members in Pennsylvania. As some boys walked up the hill past…
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Did Mary know?
Pastor Julianne D. Smith, Asst. to the Bishop, Northeastern Ohio Synod, ELCA Every year at Christmas there is a hot debate over a song written by Mark Lowry, “Mary, Did You Know?” Lowry is an American singer, comedian, minister and songwriter. If you look for him on YouTube you can find a variety of videos…
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The Gift of Life
Pastor Julianne D. SmithMany years ago, during my seminary internship, I attended an event at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, in Bexley, OH . There are two things I remember about that event. First, that I sat with Dr. Ralph Klein for dinner one evening. Second, that Dr. Stanley Hauerwas was on of the speakers. Dr. Klein…
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Burying the Dead
Pastor Julianne D. SmithAssistant to the Bishop for Congregational VitalityDirector for Evangelical MissionNortheastern Ohio Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Growing up, it was not uncommon for me to be taken to the funeral or visitation of a distant relative, or a member from our church. Since most of them took place on weekdays, it…
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What Does It Mean to be a Christian? Part 6
Pastor Julianne D. SmithAssistant to the Bishop for Congregational VitalityDirector for Evangelical MissionNortheastern Ohio Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ We have reached our final baptismal promise: To strive for justice and peace in all the earth. As I mentioned last time, we may not be able to change the whole world, but we…
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Random Thoughts from a Random Mind 