Prairie Pastoral

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

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June 6, 2022 | 2 Comments

My supposed-to sabbatical (Part One)

It’s Monday of the second full week of my supposed-to sabbatical. I was supposed to be in Ventura, CA, on the beach, for the month of June during my sabbatical. I was supposed to be walking dunes and eating at quaint cafes before taking long naps in the afternoon. I was supposed to be visiting with friends and colleagues. I was supposed to be reading and writing, free of the ordinary concerns of home and church.

But, several pulmonary embolisms later, my doctors have advised me that travel is questionable and staying by myself (however charming the accommodations) is out of the question. So, I’m trying to take sabbatical time at home. Ha! It turns out that my supposed-to sabbatical involves a whole lot of housework, because—you know—I’m home, so there are seven loads of laundry, [Read more…]

Discipleship, Expectation, Prayer Tagged: expectation, laundry, sabbatical


November 5, 2021 | Leave a Comment

Letting go

I’m a hanger-on. I hang onto things…memories, old receipts, friendships, bad song lyrics. There’s good and bad in hanging on.

       “The stripped and shapely maple grieves

                          the ghosts of her departed leaves”

John Updike’s poem, “November,” in A Child’s Calendar, chimes to me the beginning of the holiday season:  the over-eating of Thanksgiving, the frenzy of Advent, the bone-deep joy of Christmas, and the excitement of Epiphany all begin after this reminder that all gain is loss. All loss is gain.  And we are the better for it.  

This fall has been a lovely one in our lower Arkansas Valley of Colorado. Ours is never the glamour autumn of New England, but this year the river bottom turned flaming yellow, the backyard trees orange and lighter brown, and the leaves crunched under my feet on my slow morning jogs in City Park.  [Read more…]

Book of Hebrews, Expectation, Spiritual maturity, Time Tagged: autumn, expectation, John Updike, letting go


October 25, 2018 | Leave a Comment

Ministry, expectations, and abundant grace

The news of Eugene Peterson’s death this week re-started an old conversation I’ve had with myself over the years—a conversation about ministry, and expectations, and grace.

You see, in 1999, I graduated from seminary and was ordained a minister. My gifts upon both occasions included Eugene Peterson books…a lot of Eugene Peterson books.

[If you’re unfamiliar with Peterson or know him only for The Message, you’ll find his obituary here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/october/eugene-peterson-died-message-bible-long-obedience-resurrect.html He wrote a number of important books aimed at American Protestant pastors.]

I’ve given away most of my multiple copies now, and the ones I kept are underlined and sticky-noted, and at least two of them are missing pages. It’s ironic, really, given the fact that I stopped reading his books on pastoral ministry for the better part of 10 years, when I came to resent the work he offered. [Read more…]

Church, Discipleship, Leadership Tagged: Eugene Peterson, expectation, motherhood


This is the day that
the Lord has made;
let us rejoice
and be glad in it.

– Psalm 118:24
Rev. Dr. MJ Romano

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Bible Verse of the Day

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:19
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LaJunta Presbyterian Church

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