One can see it the longer one spends out in the garden, or in nature, the ways in which nature tends to take care of itself. But as I’ve learned to garden over the years, I’ve learned that sometimes the spaces we cultivate for flowers or trees or crops need special care so that theyContinue reading “Who Are We To Hinder God?”
Tag Archives: God
The Measure We Give
There are times when I turn to the Holy Scriptures and God’s comfort is undeniable, but sometimes, on the first read, I can read our sacred texts as an impossible bar to clear. In today’s gospel, I have to confess, my first thoughts were that I do not love my enemies as I should;Continue reading “The Measure We Give”
Redeemed, Beloved, and Called
There is a particular sort of response that I have whenever someone really pushes my buttons; maybe it’s an inflamed issue that gets lots of attention in the media or something more deep-seeded and woven into childhood wounds, but no matter the cause, I tend to have the same response, and since it’s my lastContinue reading “Redeemed, Beloved, and Called”
A Hard Edges and Dark Corners Christmas
When I had the opportunity to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, an ancient pilgrimage across Northern Spain a few years ago, I shared stories and pictures from that journey with this congregation. One of the conversations I had when I got back, was with someone who marveled at how, in every picture, IContinue reading “A Hard Edges and Dark Corners Christmas”
My Advent Prayer
I count it one of my life’s great gifts that I went to the same small, liberal arts college as my younger brother. For most of our lives up until our college years, I was painfully quiet and shy, and he was, well, painfully loud and gregarious. He was on campus for less than twoContinue reading “My Advent Prayer”
Baptized into Love
The way the story goes in my family history, it was my grandmother who first noticed. My dad’s mom raised five boys on the southside of Indianapolis, in a two-bedroom home so she got pretty good at paying attention. But it was my grandmother who first noticed that as I graduated from the chaos ofContinue reading “Baptized into Love”
What Do We Lack?
Maybe I’m projecting my own awkwardness on all of you, but I’m keenly aware of two things this morning. First, I’ve stolen the opening line from last week’s sermon. Preaching about Mark’s account of Jesus’ diatribe on divorce is no easy task, and I am grateful for Father Steve’s skill in preaching the truthContinue reading “What Do We Lack?”
God’s Rest and Healing
Throughout my life, I can reflect back on the ways in which I have been privileged to have many different teachers and how many of my most important lessons in life have come from unexpected places. One continual, and perhaps surprising teacher, is a well-known painter from whom I learned that, “there are noContinue reading “God’s Rest and Healing”
Uncomfortable Places
The lessons one learns on the Camino span the gamut of complex, soul-deep lessons that take years to unpack and obvious ones like learning to be careful about how much stuff you carry in your pack. You tend to take a rain jacket and one change of clothes, the shoes you walk in, andContinue reading “Uncomfortable Places”
Pokeweed and the Kingdom of God
This sermon can be listened to here. One of the most powerful things I have ever seen in my life was watching Tibetan Buddhist Monks slowly tap colored sand out to paint a giant ten-foot by ten-foot mandala at the Parliament of the World’s Religions held in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2015. Each timeContinue reading “Pokeweed and the Kingdom of God”
