Spirit of Warmth, As chills reign in the hearts of many,we reach for our spiritual blankets to remove the frigidness surrounding us. Oh how so many words and images and actionshave built a wall of ice between us and our neighbors! Yet there is no ice that you, God, can’t melt.For you are our Great… Read More
Friday Prayer
In John 5, Jesus ask a man, who has been blind for 38 years, if he wants to be made well. This is not a question merely about having vision restored, but a question about the desire to have a completely different life- engaged and participating in community in a way that has been denied… Read More
Thursday Prayer
Gracious God,We repent. The ways we’ve turned from your love. The ways we’ve rejected your community. The ways we’ve abandoned your justice. Holy Love,We repent. The hate in our hearts. The evil in our policies. The greed in our leadership. The lies on our lips. Spirit Divine,We repent. Our tendencies toward apathy. The distractions we… Read More
The Pastoral is Political: Interruptions
I was in the middle of writing The Pastoral is Political post, when someone came into the church to talk to me. We spoke, masked and distanced for an hour, before I began to get messages about the attack on the US Capitol building in Washington, D.C. We cannot pretend this is normal, so I… Read More
Worship words — baptism of the Lord
It’s hard to imagine Baptism of the Lord Sunday online, but many of us (not all, of course) will find ourselves looking for a way to engage in a traditionally tactile liturgy in a digital way. If you have found that our liturgical language is not quite up to the task, here are some starting… 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
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
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
