Friendship, Listening, and Empathy: A Prayer GuideDraw Near: A Lenten Devotional Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian LifeAdvent DevotionalSabbath Keeping FastingA Renewed SpiritualityNurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care in the Twenty-First CenturyThe Power of ListeningJoy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your CongregationPrayers of the New TestamentPrayers of the Old TestamentPersonality Type in CongregationsSabbathA Garden of Living Water: Stories of Self-Discovery and Spiritual GrowthDead Sea: A NovelDeadly Murmurs: A NovelDeath in Dunedin: A NovelBeating Burnout in CongregationsReaching Out in a Networked WorldEmbracing MidlifeFriending

Praying about the flow of time: Praying during Black History Month

Lynne Baab • Wednesday February 5 2025

Praying about the flow of time: Praying during Black History Month

February is Black History Month, also sometimes called African American History Month. Black history is a topic worthy of a lifetime of study, and Black History Month has an interesting history, too. The origins of Black History Month go back to 1926, and it is celebrated in the US and Canada in February and in Ireland and the UK in October. France organized a Black History Month in 2018, and in 2020, seven countries in Africa began celebrating it in March.

Rather than dig into the history, I wanted to focus on prayer. I did an online search for “praying for Black...

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Praying about the flow of time: Meeting Jesus as a baby

Lynne Baab • Tuesday January 28 2025

Praying about the flow of time: Meeting Jesus as a baby

A group of young adults gathers late on a Sunday night in a cathedral. They fill the pews, sprawl on the floor, and sit with their backs against the enormous pillars that hold up the ornate ceiling. They are waiting to begin Compline (pronounced COM•plin), a simple worship service with only a few psalms and prayers, a Scripture reading, and a hymn. The huge cathedral organ will ring out with Bach’s glorious tones at the end of the service.

Christians have been participating in Compline services for more than a thousand years. A brief prayer from Luke 2 is part of the...

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Praying about the flow of time: Chinese New Year

Lynne Baab • Tuesday January 21 2025

Praying about the flow of time: Chinese New Year

Did you know apples play a role in both the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and Chinese New Year? The symbolism is different. Jews often eat applesauce and other foods made with apples to symbolize their desire for sweetness in the coming year. In both Mandarin and Cantonese, the first syllable of the words “apple” and “peace” are the same. So, some Chinese people eat apples to symbolize their desire for peace in the New Year.

Chinese New Year is January 29 this year, and people in Asia and those of Asian descent all over the world will eat a diverse range...

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Praying about the flow of time: God is light

Lynne Baab • Wednesday January 15 2025

Praying about the flow of time: God is light

The psalmist sees God as “wrapped in light as with a garment” (Psalm 104:2). “I am the light of the world,” says Jesus (John 8:12). When John sees Jesus in a vision, Jesus’s face is “like the sun shining with full force” (Revelation 1:16). Later in Revelation, Jesus calls himself the “bright morning star” (22:16).

For the past several years, when I pray for people, I often name three things I want for them: God’s shalom, God’s protection, and God’s light. Naming God’s light almost every day in my prayers has made me more aware of the significance of the strong imagery...

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Meeting God in Grief and Gratitude

Lynne Baab • Wednesday January 22 2025

By Lynne M. Baab, author of Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life

Nurturing a contemplative stance for navigating challenging times

Lynne Baab • Friday August 11 2023

By Lynne M. Baab

Yes, Jesus Told Us to Pray in Secret. But He Also Prayed with His Friends.

Lynne Baab • Saturday October 9 2021

By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021