Category Archives: Border Collies

Sunshine, Alfalfa, and Max

Posted on October 16, 2023 by John

Hooray for sun, alfalfa, and Max. Today was a day of somber thoughts for our family of faith at St. Luke Lutheran Church. I’m back helping to give pastoral care, preaching, and worship leadership after a dozen years retirement. It … Continue reading →

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Betty Back from the Brink

Posted on October 10, 2023 by John

Life with many animals on a livestock farm is full of emotional highs and lows. Loving life is no guarantee of happy times, but loving life means life is thick with feeling. Thick with a joy that is more nuanced … Continue reading →

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Spot and a Still Small Voice

Posted on August 28, 2023 by John

In my early days with sheep herding dogs, I thought the only way of getting through to them was through my voice….and the louder the better. You see you train dogs in a big open field; and the sheep start … Continue reading →

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Pentecost 23 C: Christianity, Violence, Love, and Elections

Posted on November 8, 2022 by John

The lessons for the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost are… Old Testament      Malachi 4:1–2a Psalm                    Psalm 98 New Testament     2 Thessalonians 3:6–13 Gospel                   Luke 21:5–19 As I write this post it is the day of mid-term elections. … Continue reading →

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Epiphany 3 C: The World’s Wordless Whispers

Posted on January 18, 2022 by John

The readings for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany are: Old Testament      Nehemiah 8:1–3, 5–6, 8–10 Psalm                    Psalm 19 New Testament     1 Corinthians 12:12–31a Gospel                   Luke 4:14–21 The whole idea of the Epiphany season of the … Continue reading →

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Max and Being Home

Posted on December 3, 2021 by John

Being at home is essential to being. We humans aren’t human without it; and dogs aren’t real dogs without a home either. We do well to bear this truth about humanity when we think of the homeless in encampments in … Continue reading →

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Emergence of Winter Wheat

Posted on October 9, 2021 by John

Martin Luther was smart enough to remember what we all forget. Every day we forget how great life can be if we live to the potential God has built into us. Sadder still, we forget how much God does to … Continue reading →

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Pentecost 8B: Tucker Carlson, Vaccines, and the Gathering God

Posted on July 13, 2021 by John

The readings for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost are: Old Testament      Jeremiah 23:1–6 Psalm                    Psalm 23 New Testament     Ephesians 2:11–22 Gospel                   Mark 6:30–34, 53–56 Well, the latest, is that Tucker Carlson has told his loyal followers … Continue reading →

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Enough snow and wind!

Posted on February 6, 2021 by John

Zac and Betty looked like ghosts. Temperature about 5 degrees, going down to 15 below later this week. Wind from 25 to 45 miles an hour. Drifts up to my waist. Lots of profanity as I try to open gates, … Continue reading →

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Epiphany 5 B: Wait for the Lord, Not Just for the Vaccination

Posted on February 3, 2021 by John

There’s something ancient and eternal here. We are always tempted to modernize the message of the church—to speak in the most fashionable jargon of the philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, or “with it” youth on the streets. But Isaiah, chapters 40-55, makes … Continue reading →

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