Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 13

May 1, 2020

Friends in Faith: Darlene Davis

A Little Women coloring book. A book of mothers wisdom. A sheet of observations, her own (Sometimes memories sneak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks) and others. Darlene Davis, who lives in a small town in Michigans thumb, has been sending out these joy packages to friends during the time of covid. Its just the type of thing Darlene does, you see. Darlene and I have known each other for nearly twenty years. On the outside, were very different: she plays piano and sings beautifully. I...
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Published on May 01, 2020 02:40

On the Nightstand: Seeking Peace

These are unusual times, to say the least. I think its a God thing that my friend Allison Gingrass latest book, Seeking Peace: A Spiritual Journey from Worry to Trustofficially launches today.

In this, the latest in a series of journals the Lord put on her heart a few years ago, Allison offers seven ways to learn to trust God more and helps us incorporate that trust into our own lives so we can turn down the worry temperature. And, as always, she offers Scripture study, prayer prompts, and...

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Published on May 01, 2020 01:58

April 28, 2020

Offer: Bread of Life

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

He is the bread of life, Jesus tells the crowd in John 6:35. Stick with Him, and you will never lack food or water, not ever.

Its a great promise, a promise even the most unscrupulous of politicians and businesses likely would stop short of. Because theres always a dependency as they say in the project management world, a manufacturing or delivery or execution...

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Published on April 28, 2020 05:43

April 21, 2020

“Son of Encouragement”

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means son of encouragement). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles feet. (Acts 4:36-37, NRSVCE)

So, a few things Ive noticednot heard about secondhand, but seen firsthandthe past few weeks:

A woman who picks up,...
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Published on April 21, 2020 06:03

April 14, 2020

What Do You Say to Jesus?

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Perhaps its as much about what she didnt say as it is about what she did say.

Rabboni, by Gutzon Borglum, Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, DC. (own work)

Mary doesnt recognize Jesus, not at first. Then He calls her by name, and she knows.

Rabbouni, she saysand maybe hugs him, because He asks her to stop holding him. Or maybe its a metaphysical request.

She doesn...

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Published on April 14, 2020 03:50

April 7, 2020

Letting the Light Shine

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

As I write this, Im watching Passion Sunday Mass thanks to the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I had to turn away from a different livestream that started with a half-dozen priests singing All Glory, Laud, and Honor in Latin and English because it was just too painful not to sing along softly with people in my parish I...

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Published on April 07, 2020 05:29

April 1, 2020

On the Nightstand: Unsheltered

My sister has been, well, my sister for decades and my roommate for nearly sixteen years. Yet weve never read a new-to-both-of-us book at the same time. Were changing that up this month by reading Barbara Kingsolvers Unsheltered, about two families who lived in a New Jersey home a century apart. Ive enjoyed several other Kingsolver titles, and am looking forward to this one. Yes, Im still doing spiritual reading, mainly autobiographies and biographies of male saints. But for April, I thought...
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Published on April 01, 2020 03:54

March 31, 2020

“He Has Not Left Me Alone”

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

So Jesus said, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him. (John 8:28-29, NRSVCE)

They couldnt hurt Jesus, not really. Oh sure, they could...

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Published on March 31, 2020 04:08

March 24, 2020

“Do You Want to Be Well?”

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be made well? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.Jesus said to him,...

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Published on March 24, 2020 05:04

March 17, 2020

God in the Time of Covid19

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Three months ago when I looked at the calendar and saw that I would be writing a Daily Tripod on St. Patricks Day, I started thinking about what story I would share today: The tale of how my rapscallion Irish great-grandfather tricked his beloved into thinking they were married? The story of how Manny, the-best-dog-who-ever-lived, in the minute I was not in the...

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Published on March 17, 2020 05:12