This passage and the ones surrounding it are some of my favorite Bible verses. I'm inclined to say, “I love this passage!” But using that word seems inappropriate when I think about the depth and power of God's love for us. I don't think...
Eva Lee Matthews founded a distinctly (US) American religious order, the Community of the Transfiguration, established in 1898, dedicated to contemplation and service to the poor, particularly children. Sister Eva Mary was inspired by Jesus'...
Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon...
As children, we would climb the roof of our church or walk to the island park a few blocks from home for a great view of the fireworks display shared on the river between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario. We stopped going when fights escalated between people...
I am committed to an incarnational faith: that is, a faith that is not simply intellectual and spiritual but one that requires physical presence. Whatever body I have must be part of how I love God. Caring for our bodies is stewardship of God’s creation a….(View...
From the Archives: July 25, 1946 From the human viewpoint, the training given to James was wasted: all that time of discipleship with Jesus, all the teaching and example, all the understanding of the inner circle—and then to be killed when….(View this reading...
I learned about Pauli Murray, the first African American woman priest in the Episcopal church (1977) from my education professor, a Quaker woman. This civil rights lawyer turned priest broke glass and stained-glass ceilings. In 1941, Pauli Murray began...
A Sunday School teacher told me that one of the best things about The Book of Common Prayer was that even when his faith wavered, he was still able to come and join together with the church and to let the prayers cover him. He said that the moments when it was rote...
Jesus comes to Peter sitting by a charcoal fire, just as he was when he betrayed Jesus. And Jesus appears to him as he fishes, reminding him of his life before Jesus first called him. But Jesus points him once again away from the sea and away from the charcoal fire,...
The story of the sacrifice of Isaac is one of the hardest in the Bible for me to read, especially now that I have a son of my own. The thought that God would ask Abraham to murder his son as a test is horrific. How spiritually and psychologically scarred would Abraham...
