Category Archives: Sermons

There is something about the experiences I’ve had in life, or my natural bent to be at home in grief, that allows me to be very comfortable with death. It comes with the territory of being a priest, and it was what provided my first nudge toward seminary and ministry. The first time I satContinue reading “Dying, yet Alive”

​The first time I practiced yoga, the instructor, once everyone was seated and quiet, encouraged the class to close our eyes and to “begin to notice your breath.” Despite her calm voice, my competitive and perfectionistic brain took a hard left in attempt to ‘win’ at yoga on that first try; I overcorrected and when I noticed that my breathingContinue reading “The Measure You Give”

It has almost always been the case that some of my best reflections in life have happened sitting on the edge of a lake. I have prayed tearful prayers and sat and stared at the ebbing water wondering if God is really at work in this world at all. There is something the way inContinue reading “Overwhelming Defeat and Tangible Hope”

One of my all-time favorite sitcoms is the recent show, The Good Place; it’s a show that poses the question of what if the afterlife really was as simple as some Christian folks believe. What if all the good things you do add points to your after-life total and all the bad things you doContinue reading “Inquiring and Discerning Hearts”

“You shall fear disaster no more. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.” These were the words to which my heart was drawn in my prayer this week, long before any of us knew what disasters lay ahead. Yesterday morning, devastation was in the air. Walking my dogsContinue reading “The Weary World Rejoices”

My favorite part of being a teacher was getting to tell stories. And even still today, I love to tell a good story, because a good story pulls us in, holds us for a moment, and then sends us back to your own world with a little more insight into ourselves or into how theContinue reading “Seeing and Bing Seen”

Four years ago today, I underwent a long surgery for what we at the church office now call “Not Cancer”; for those who were a part of the congregation at that time, you probably remember the collective prayers that you all held for me as I navigated that long surgery and healing. I still haveContinue reading “Give It Away”

Recently, someone asked me to reflect on one of my earliest experiences of faith; they asked me what shaped it, how it formed me, and what did it teach me about God. My answer came as most answers to questions like this come with a surprising amount of clarity but being unable to articulate theContinue reading “Blessed to be a Blessing”