Psalm 48: The Joy of All the Earth

In the midst of the communal lament that extends past last night’s psalm, today’s psalm gives rise to a break in the lament. It is a pause in a series of laments individual and communal to give a praise break. The Psalter, it is important to remember was not always bound together this way. ItContinue reading “Psalm 48: The Joy of All the Earth”

Psalm 44: We Sink Down to the Dust

Having not grown up in a liturgical tradition, I was shocked when I first experienced it at the way the rhythm of liturgy and litany resonates deep within my soul. “Don’t the words feel artificial if they are not from your heart and brain?” I was once asked about worshiping in a liturgical tradition. IContinue reading “Psalm 44: We Sink Down to the Dust”

Psalm 42: Deep Calls to Deep

One of the best things about the psalms and how they speak to us today is how to lament. A lament holds us in the uncomfortable space of disappointment and frustration, and most Christians aren’t too good at staying in this space. The way in which our church calendar moves we have time build inContinue reading “Psalm 42: Deep Calls to Deep”

Psalm 35: O Lord, do not be silent!

Many times bravery and danger are two sides of the coin. This evening’s psalm is both. Psalm 35 is a desperate plea from someone so excluded that he, in a prayer to God, paints the scenario with war-like imagery. At first it could be tempting to see this as actual war, as a psalm fromContinue reading “Psalm 35: O Lord, do not be silent!”

Psalm 37:19-40: Their Steps Do Not Slip

One of the more helpful ways to understand trauma is to acknowledge that experiencing a trauma is not the end of its effect. Those who undergo traumatic events cannot fully process the happening in the moment, and perhaps not even until much later in their life, depending on the trauma. Shelley Rambo puts this beautifullyContinue reading “Psalm 37:19-40: Their Steps Do Not Slip”

The Grace of God

A sermon delivered to the people of Christ Episcopal Church in Bowling Green, KY on Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2018 on 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 and Matthew 6:1-6,16-20. It is often noted that there is a brilliant paradox of reading Jesus’ warning in the sermon on the mount, “Beware of practicing your piety before others inContinue reading “The Grace of God”

Psalm 102: Lonely on a Housetop

On a day when each of us are reminded that we will die and are but dust, the psalm suggested for the evening of Ash Wednesday forces us to embrace what could be easy to gloss over: that death (and therefore, life) is occasionally overwhelming and gruesome. Even as we get ash rubbed onto ourContinue reading “Psalm 102: Lonely on a Housetop”

In the Reflection of the Chalice Cup

I tend to think in metaphors; if I can get a metaphor out of my brain and have it actually make sense to others then it means that I have begun to grasp whatever important concept I am trying to more fully understand. Early on in my discernment to the priesthood, a metaphor stuck, andContinue reading “In the Reflection of the Chalice Cup”