God of Peace, The air around us is full of debris: words of hatred, rugged individualism, overwhelming grief. The wind swirls around us, irritating our souls. Our spirits our tired, Holy One. Our hearts are torn by emotional pollution. When can we rest from humanity’s contamination by malice? May your Spirit cleans the animosity-air surrounding… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Wrestling with Blessings
Reflections on Genesis 27: 1-4, 15-23 and Genesis 28: 10-17 For me, there are stark parallels between the story of Jacob and Esau, and the state of America’s divided nation. The rivalry of brothers can affect nations. So it was with the nation of Israel. So it is with nations today. For a deeper dive… Read More
Friday Prayer
A Psalm in the time of COVID-19 My heart has no joy, O Lord, For it is weighed down with imprecations. I struggle to feel anything but contempt For those who spread lies, who conceal the truth, Who reject the opportunities to help others. I lament the truth of history, Wherein people have been treated… Read More
Tuesday Prayer – A Prayer for Anxiety in Times of Hate
God of the Racing Minds and the Calm Hearts- Divine Wonder, how is it that that anxiety continues to overtake us? How is it that so many of us all over this planet are fixated on our own concerns, drowning in their our privileges, forgetting our connection to many others? As my mind jumps from… Read More
Friday Prayer
Holy Provider, Sometimes it is not enough to open a window, When a door has been closed. Some of us have experienced too many closed doors-Closed by the forces that oppose the Divine will of LoveClosed by people with racist, patriarchal, colonist, X-phobic tendencies, Closed by people who are complicit with the above, intentionally and… Read More
Tuesday Prayer – The Aroma of Resilience
God of the Sweet, God of the Sour- Seasons of stress appear from time to time. In the bitterness of life, our minds feel as if they can’t move forward. In the rancidness of grief, we doubt that we can breathe our next breath. And yet, the sweetness of your Spirit enters the air. Through… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Beginnings (Genesis 1:1-2:4a)
“September is another January,” writer Gretchen Rubin says often, conveying the feeling of a new start in September. In the U.S., where I live, school is starting, and students, aides and teachers are back to in-person learning in many places. This year, the beginning also feels dangerous, with COVID still hovering. Churches shift to fuller… Read More
Friday Prayer
God of all creation, We humbly ask for your intervention in Have mercy on all who Pour out your healing on We praise your justice and ask for We sigh in our grief over To whom can we turn Seeking your wholeness, we pray for Kyrie eleison … … FIX IT. Amen. The Reverend Julia… Read More
Worship Words: 5 September 2021
What? Sunday is coming again? Didn’t we just have one? Yes, we who wear the yoke of Christ and pull alongside him find ourselves facing another set of worship services that require our attention, devotion, and inspiration. Maybe you’ve got all that in spades. That’s great! Maybe you’re feeling like a dried out spring. That’s… Read More
RCL: The Be Opened Edition
I love this story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. Admittedly, it’s a love that had come in more recent years. We get to witness a moment of growth in Jesus’s life. Yes, he was a man of his times and schooled in all the prejudices and human foolishness of his day. He meets a… Read More
