Cleanse Us Of Our Secret Faults

Monday, April 23, 2018

  A good and wise friend recently suggested that repentance/metanoia/transformation are at the heart of the Kingdom of God. The key is confession and reconciliation, but confession, an ancient and holy practice, is one we tend to avoid, or even reject. Are we...

My Best Friend

Sunday, April 22, 2018

  “Your best friend is the one who: seeing him reminds you of Allah, speaking to him increases your knowledge, and his actions remind you of the hereafter.”  — Al-Muhasibi   I want to tell you a story:   There were two close friends who had been...

Continuing to Remember Ann+

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Along with Education for Ministry (EfM), Episcopal Café, and most of the Episcopal Church as a whole, I am mourning the loss of a mentor, co-mentor, editor, friend, and incredible resource and example, namely Ann Fontaine. So many words have been written about her...

Remembering Ann from the SttS Contributors

Friday, April 20, 2018

Although I never got to meet her in person, Ann Fontaine has been walking alongside me almost as long as I’ve been an Episcopalian.  We first met when I was new to the church, around 2006, via the blogosphere.  She later coerced me (in that...

Come, Thou

Friday, April 20, 2018

As most readers already know my mom, Ann Fontaine, passed away earlier this week.   To say I will miss her greatly is an enormous understatement. I don’t think I even realize how much I will miss her. I know from the many cards, emails, texts, and social...

Snagging Souls

Thursday, April 19, 2018

The Feast Day of St. Alphege   I am visiting our daughter in south Florida.  She has a screened-in porch overlooking her backyard, and I have been sitting out here in the cool mornings to write.  This morning daylight seeps slowly, incrementally, into the world....

The First Apostle

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Mark 16:9-12: Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was...

Holy Ground

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Sometimes you feel it in your bones. Sometimes you just know. Your breath slows down. You pause. You feel as though time has stopped. You are frozen in place. You want to stay there forever. You want to feel safe. Warm. Present. Calm. Known.   Sometimes you’re on...

Rivers of Living Water

Monday, April 16, 2018

  Today’s Daily Office Gospel reading, skipping the genealogy of Jesus, brings us back around to John the Baptizer, a voice crying in the wilderness, which continues for the next two days. Probably chosen to begin the way to our annual memorialization of the...

Who Will You Be?

Sunday, April 15, 2018

“…What we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,  we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  I John 3:2 (NIV) Have you seen those bracelets that say WWJD? It’s on tee-shirts too, and some...

DIY TR

Saturday, April 14, 2018

I speak often of a group that I belong to and have the honor of mentoring in, and that is Education for Ministry (EfM). For those unfamiliar with the title, it’s an educational formation program for laypeople, but is open to clergy who may be part of a...

Miracle Food

Friday, April 13, 2018

Daily Office Readings for Friday, April 13, 2018:   AM Psalm 16, 17; PM Psalm 134, 135 Exod. 16:23-36; 1 Pet. 3:13-4:6; John 16:1-15   Our reading from Exodus–the story of manna in the wilderness–reminds me just how fickle we are about “miracle...

What Is Needed Now?

Thursday, April 12, 2018

John 15:12-27   Here is the heart of Christian teaching, its very essence. “Love one another as I have loved you.” This is what it is all about, Jesus tells his disciples. Expressing the greatest love there is, he gave his life for his friends. Because of his...

Bearing Fruit

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

John 15:1-11   Spring officially began on March 20, but in much of the country you couldn’t tell that. One of my friends on the West Coast was bewailing the fact that it was in the 90s a few days ago where she lives, while those of us trapped in Flyover Country...

The Theology of Spring

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Just as different seasons in the church year have their own feel and theology, so, too, do I believe that the seasons of nature have their own theology. It’s no secret that each season feels and looks different. There’s a variety of smells and tastes and sights that...