Sunday, September 20, 2020
I struggle with the idea of Christian unity, of being of “one mind” by faith. This has sometimes set Christians in opposition to their neighbors in ways that have been exclusionary and violent. We have drawn lines in the sand and divided communities. And yet, our...
Saturday, September 19, 2020
I try to keep myself very busy running from work to home, to the gym, to a friend’s, to church, to the store. I fill my life with activities and people I care for. This is the life I live alongside all of the other striving, hardworking people of this country. Our...
Friday, September 18, 2020
For a moment with the dying sun before me and the warm rock beneath me, I feel peace settling into my bones. I breathe with the waves and am carried by gulls into even deeper peace. I allow myself to be taken by it, to dwell in it, and to begin to carry that peace...
Thursday, September 17, 2020
From the Archives: May 29, 1953How should people feel toward their clergy and how should they treat them? Let me offer my own answer as a minister.We want your prayers. Our task is spiritual, and it puts a heavy drain on our so….(View this reading and more...
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
When I was a young adult minister, I had the privilege of listening to a lot of people discerning their vocations. Some were called to holy orders; far more were confirmed in the ministry of the laity. Some were called to strive for equality and environmental...
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
These words spoken by the Pharisees after seeing Jesus ride triumphant into Jerusalem for the Passover strike me as both folly and cause for celebration. For one, God’s movement in the world is too powerful for evil to overcome. God moves in the world, and the world...
Monday, September 14, 2020
Almost every supervillain storyline follows a similar trope: dispossessed individuals gain some power but subsequently isolate and overextend themselves. Meanwhile, much more powerful superheroes acknowledge their need for relationship and commitment to others and...
Sunday, September 13, 2020
Like many Christians, I seek to serve; I look for opportunities to help. Unwittingly I appoint myself judge over who needs help and what help they need. I see the homeless on the street and decide who to give to and in what amount.Congregations and community groups...
Saturday, September 12, 2020
As a consultant, I am often invited into spaces where I may know less than those I am advising. I do not understand chemistry as well as an engineer, instruction as well as a curriculum designer. Yet I am invited to counsel and help to clarify paths around and through...
Friday, September 11, 2020
John is the gospel of the divine Jesus, who foretells his own death and who is the Word incarnate. In the story of the raising of Lazarus, Jesus decides not to go directly when he hears his friend is ill. He is infinitely confident in his divinity and seems to know...
