This is the story about this picture, a picture I call “comfort and joy.” It is a porta potty at a building site near where I live, halfway between Crossroads House, the shelter for people who are unhoused and the downtown of Portsmouth. Work has stopped on the site till spring, but they have left… Read More
Friday Prayer: 1 January 2021
I said to my soul, Soul, we are here. We are here with the aches of the past. We are here with the promise of the future. The past has promise too. That someday there will be meaning and depth and story that we do not yet see. That promise fulfilled does not mean that… Read More
Thursday Prayer: New Year’s Eve
This is a prayer for anyone who is not readyfor the New Year yet.Who is not readyto move on yet.Who doesn’t have energy for “New Year New You”. Who is still in the grief of it all,who isn’t ready to be gratefulfor it right now,or to turn all hard times into “growth”. This is a prayerfor anyone… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: Christmas Leftovers Edition
What do you do with the second Sunday after Christmas? Do you get a jump start on Epiphany, or sing all the Christmas carols that somehow haven’t been sung yet this season? Is this the Sunday for a much-needed vacation, or the Sunday to start a new preaching series for 2021? Does your congregation observe… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
As the year ends, God, what shall we keep from this year? What blessings have we wrestled out of its kick to the stomach, its unrelenting grief and hollowing loneliness? And what, O God, shall we take up in the new year, as it brings its gift of newness to our weariness? May we hold… Read More
The Pastoral Is Political – The Impromptu Journey Back
I refuse to believe that I am alone in revising my life and reassessing goals on the fly. I had a different plan but join me on this impromptu, unplanned journey back into 2020 with hopes for an improved 2021 ahead. I had to let go of what I wanted and initially dreamed of embracing the gems of the reality of 2020. Read More
Worship Words: Christmas 2/Epiphany
Do you know what day it is? As I type, it’s Tuesday, 29 December 2020. If you’re in the southern hemisphere, enjoy the fresh foods of the season. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, remember to get your Vitamin D and drink plenty of water. We are in the season wherein many pastors lose track of… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: the tweenager Jesus (Luke 2:41-52)
The celebration of New Year’s Eve (Hogmany) is a big event in Scotland. However, this year it will be very much curtailed, as were our Christmas and Easter celebrations, along with the festivals of other faiths in 2020. It’s within this very different New Year that we read of Jesus’ family going up to Jerusalem… Read More
Saturday Prayer: God Who is With Us
God Who is With Us, My mind and body are tired and my heart is full. The “glorias” are still echoing, and I remember the flicker of candles from years past with those near and dear to me. You are unchanging, Holy One. You stand true as the Light of the world, the Hope of… Read More
Thursday Prayer: Christ is born
Even if the liturgy is glitchy,or there is a tech fault,Christ is born, Christ is born among us. Even if the fudge crumbles when you cut it,or the pastry is not your best,Christ is born in our midst. Even if the news is full of doom,and people are behaving terribly,Christ, the Prince of Peace, is… Read More
