Not every gathering is the right one to attend, and we can’t always come just as we are. I’ll confess that this is a challenging idea for me, being the extravert that I am. I tend to look upon every group as another chance to meet more of God’s beloved people and to celebrate the big, joyous, diverse … Read the rest
Continue reading "Party Dressed" »
“A new creation is everything!” I just love that joyful exclamation from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. He’s been meditating on the cross of Christ: symbol of God’s great victory over death, absolutely. But in Paul’s time, the cross was not used for jewelry, and nobody would ever have forgotten that it was also an … Read the rest
Continue reading "Imagining Death into Life" »
Do you ever feel like the Bible is reading you? Feel like it is shining a light into the far recesses of your soul and asking you to look more closely at yourself? The beautiful parts as well as the ones we’d prefer not to see? “How often should I forgive?” asked Peter. I’ve asked that question of … Read the rest
Continue reading "Crisis of Forgiveness" »
Today’s Gospel lesson is sandwiched between two other teachings about the integrity of the community of Jesus followers. Matthew 18:10-14 is the Parable of the Lost Sheep—the one in one hundred who goes astray—and Jesus teaches that “it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” Then in Matthew … Read the rest
Continue reading "Better Together" »
A little less than a year ago, I was driving from my previous Trinity Cathedral in Portland Oregon to my current Trinity Cathedral to be with you. Because I was travelling with my son Aaron—you’ll see him in our upcoming children’s moment—we stopped to visit Crater Lake and some of the other magnificent landscapes along the way. As … Read the rest
Continue reading "The View from the Mountain" »
“Lord, teach us to pray,” the disciples asked of Jesus, according to Luke’s Gospel. And in response, Jesus gave them what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer, perhaps the most beloved and enduring prayer in our tradition. From foxholes to hospitals to bedtime rituals to Episcopal liturgies of every kind, we pray and we sing “thy kingdom … Read the rest
Continue reading "Barefoot Conquerors" »
Our collect appointed for this Sunday—listen, and you’ll hear it later in the service—prays for God to give us knowledge and understanding about what things we ought to do. That’s a very good prayer for what we Christians sometimes call discernment. That is, our practices for choosing the right course of action, as followers of Jesus.
But honestly, … Read the rest
Continue reading "Discerned Profligacy" »
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I have perplexity in my mind, and grief in my heart, day after day?”
How long indeed? 100-plus days since shelter at home, and I’m taking this psalm rather personally. The unknowable “how long-ness” of our pandemic … Read the rest
Continue reading "Transform the Story" »
Where do we find God? Indeed, where do we even go looking for God? Especially when the obvious places, like our lovely Cathedral, are closed to us? That’s a big loss, and we feel it every day. As your pastor, the only advice I can offer you is this: feel all the feels. It’s OK to grieve; grief … Read the rest
Continue reading "Holy Household" »
Among my earliest childhood memories is of the time I almost drowned, when I was about three. I was playing on the beach with my parents, when suddenly a sneaker wave pulled me into the foamy surf, tumbled me around, and then pushed me downwards where responsible adults couldn’t see me. I struggled against the power of the … Read the rest
Continue reading "Breath of Power" »