My first Epiphany here at Christ Church, I took home the paper instructions and blue chalk and while I don’t remember if it was me or Father Steve who preached that night, I do remember how the chalk crumbled slightly as I with every bit of prayerful intention I could marked C + M +Continue reading “The Blessing of Changed Plans”
Tag Archives: Christian
Changed by the Wilderness
The day started early, with simple and delicious buttered bread and a bowl of coffee, which, I learned that morning, was how the folks in the Basque area of France drink coffee, literally in a bowl. Over breakfast, I sat with other pilgrims, talking about the day, our hopes, and plans for the pilgrimage;Continue reading “Changed by the Wilderness”
A Way Forward
There is not much else I enjoy in this world as much as I love a good story. I love to be drawn in and the rise and fall of a narrative; I love when stories are predictable, and I love when they are surprising. But the thing I love most of all isContinue reading “A Way Forward”
Again.
In the midst of life we are in death;from whom can we seek help?From you alone, O Lord,who by our sins are justly angered. Holy God, Holy and Mighty,Holy and merciful Savior,deliver us not into the bitterness of eternal death. Burial of the Dead, Rite II; Book of Common Prayer, p. 492 For years onContinue reading “Again.”
The Listening Pilgrim
No one comes to any of life’s journeys in a vacuum; we come carrying all the burdens that life has laid upon us. We do not come to any pilgrimage devoid of the ways in which our journey has shaped who we are, who we have become, and who we might, by God’s grace, growContinue reading “The Listening Pilgrim”
Easter and Death
Near the beginning of the Thanksgiving over the Water in our Baptismal Rite, the priest says, “We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection.” Last night we welcomed two new Christians into this life of death andContinue reading “Easter and Death”
Baptized for the Boring
Like many of my stories, this one is set in a hospital in West Texas, it was a day before I hit a snag in my ordination process, and a patient, not three years older than me at the time had suffered a serious decline; inexplicably, a mosquito bite led to the development of theContinue reading “Baptized for the Boring”
Baptized into Change
Having grown up in a Christian tradition that did not have written prayers, when I joined the Episcopal Church, I immediately felt connected to the beauty of our prayer book and the prayers held therein. It didn’t take long for me to be drawn to our petition “that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful; andContinue reading “Baptized into Change”
Sighs Too Deep
I was surrounded and the room filled with the loud sound of a family presenting to God their fears, their hopes, and their anxieties. In many ways, it was like any other day; I knocked on the non-descript hospital door and introduced myself. I listened as the family shared the terrible news about the patriarchContinue reading “Sighs Too Deep”
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”
Becca Kello 