anxiety

Spiritual Protection and Nourishment

We live in highly anxious times. For those of us who read or watch or listen to the news, this week has been very difficult. Think about some of the anxious words we have read or heard recently. The planet is warming up, it is heating up, the ICP warns us again. Wildfires rage across the west. Oakridge prepares to evacuate; it is so close to us. Hospitals are buckling under Delta, ICUs are running out of beds. A man in Roseburg died this past week because there weren't enough beds in the ICU. Children's hospitals across the country are filling up. A devastating earthquake hit Haiti again. Afghanistan falls to the Taliban again, and refugees are desperately trying to flee the country. And all of these anxious words come after a year and a half of the pandemic which has worn us down and thinned our resilience. Resilience that might have already been frayed going into the pandemic in the first place.

To read or listen to Bingham’s entire sermon for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost click “Read More.”

Agents of Hope

We live in highly anxious times. That might be something of an understatement for 2020. There is so much to be understandably anxious about right now in this year. One of the side affects or outcomes of anxiety can be hopelessness. It is easy to allow anxiety to sap us of our hope. “Hope, that thing with feathers that perches in the soul,” as Emily Dickinson so beautifully put it. Hope is important to us. We need hope to keep moving forward, especially when times are so difficult. We need hope, and anxiety is the enemy of that hope.

Read or Listen to Bingham's entire sermon by clicking “Read More.” If it's meaningful to you, share it with a friend.

2 Easter: While it was Still Dark...

2 Easter:  While it was Still Dark...

It is not different for us today. We are in the midst of fear, anxieties, and worries, which may be legion. There are many things of which to be afraid in this life. Internal and external fears abound. And in the midst of all that fear is the place where Jesus comes and says Peace be with you. Whatever fear-filled locked rooms we have put ourselves in, or been put in, Jesus shows up, offering us peace.