In the United States it is the Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration and one of three hundred and sixty-six days this year to think about race. We sing “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” the poem by James Weldon Johnson set to music by John Rosamond Johnson, but I’m not sure it is good today to… Read More
Sunday Prayer: come and see
We are looking, God.
We are looking everywhere.
Sometimes,
we think we see glimpses
of your glory,
but then it seems to disappear
before our very eyes. Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Today I am singing and rejoicing because— We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses Thank you, God! Now, please God, compel us to lean into this promise with hope and trust Compel… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Code-Switching (Mark 4:1-34)
The parables found in Mark 4:1-34 are familiar, but I must admit that I got a bit annoyed when I read the text this time. Why the word games? Why do some get to understand and others don’t? Given the oh, so many political and religious pundits, media outlets that have been co-opted by corporate… Read More
Tuesday Prayer
God of Greys and Brightness, In this post Christmas season, As the lights have been taken down And clouds have filtered in, The funk of January has permeated our souls. Whether the days are cold and dreary north of the Equator Or the days are arid and scorching to the south, Our balance seems off.… Read More
RCL: God Calling
My call story involves an Amy Grant song and Route 128 in Massachusetts. I was already enrolled in a graduate program in Pastoral Ministry. I had been thinking of it as a useful prelude to what I thought I wanted to do: study Jungian psychotherapy. Then, one fall day I found myself driving to the… Read More
Sunday Prayer: Down to the River to Pray
Fires rage
and the air is thick with smoke.
Your creatures, great and small,
long to breathe
the breath of new life, Lord.
Crowds gather,
missiles fly,
and the rhetoric is angry. Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Earthquakes Firestorms Missile strikes Plane crashes City-wide gun violence Is this how we are starting 2020, God? Help us to stop. Now! Stop our pillaging of the earth for our comfort Stop our polluting the air with our poison Stop our scapegoating and warmongering Stop our putting profit before people Stop our othering Stop our… Read More
Tuesday Prayer
God of all Creation- As the world wobbled and rumbled this morning in Puerto Rico, We send our prayers and our love to the ones now seeing a shattered world. As electricity and water has ceased, We pray that they can find the resources they need. May their earthquakes end, And may their trauma heal.… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Healing for Liberation and Confrontation (Mark 2:1-22)
Every time I consider Jesus’ miracle stories I think someone in the congregation is thinking, “Yeah. That’s Jesus. I can’t do that.” Because we can’t, can we? Jesus performs miracle after miracle, and I have to tell you, I’ve never performed one single miracle! But reading Ched Myers (Binding the Strong Man and “Say to… Read More
