When my kids were younger, our family had a tradition of inviting the neighborhood kids over—most of whom were not Christian—to help decorate our Christmas tree. We served sweet treats rather like we’re doing at Trinity today, and invited them to make some crafts to decorate the tree with or take back to their own homes. It was … Read the rest
Continue reading "Not the Light" »
Until a few years ago, my family owned a primitive cabin in the Redwoods near the Russian River. The site was green and romantic and beautiful, but the cabin was not an easy place to maintain. The overstory cast a deep shade, and moisture so permeated the ecosystem such that everything seemed to compost overnight. Including the nylon … Read the rest
Continue reading "Message from the Margin" »
Today being Christ the King Sunday, and myself never having lived under the authority of an earthly king, I thought I’d better do some research into how my peers think about kings. So I did what contemporary people do, and turned to the Oracle of Mountain View—that being Google—for insight.
I figured that I’d learn a … Read the rest
Continue reading "Peculiar Kingship" »
When my kids were little I used to carry bandaids in my wallet. I felt prepared for almost every parenting emergency, because bandaids heal basically every childhood hurt. We all know that, right? It seemed so easy then. But then we grow up, and wonder: will there be a bandaid—or its comforting equivalent—when we need it? Will there … Read the rest
Continue reading "Wisdom in the Wait" »
If you’ve been in church over the past few weeks, you’ve probably noticed a lot of people asking questions of Jesus, at least as Matthew’s Gospel tells it. From last week: “is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” And this week we overhear a Pharisee asking “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the … Read the rest
Continue reading "Questioning the Questions" »
“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Oh my goodness, I get so very worried when Paul or Jesus any of the saints of the church say that. Which almost all of them do, in one way or another. Earlier in this same … Read the rest
Continue reading "Clothed with Generosity" »
“God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve.” Let me invite you to pay attention to the collect—that’s our opening prayer for Sunday Eucharist—which changes every
week. Some weeks it’s about the season or time of year; sometimes it’s related to the scriptures we … Read the rest
It’s not fair! How many times have we said that. Or at least thought it. I’ll give you a moment to remember the last time somebody cut in front of you in traffic or someone declared bankruptcy after racking up irresponsible debt. Do you feel just a bit of anger over the injustice of it all? And if … Read the rest
Continue reading "It's Not Fair!" »Earlier this year, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, sounded the alarm about an American epidemic which predated COVID-19: the phenomenon of loneliness, now affecting half of all Americans. It is a serious public health problem. Lack of social connection has been found to be as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
Murthy has … Read the rest
Continue reading "Real and Reconciled" »
“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.” Whoa. That’s a big ask. And a really big Biblical concept. Think fire and animal slaughter and blood of bulls poured out on an altar. Or how about the sacrifice of praise that we talk about from our own altar at Trinity? From Genesis to Jesus to the culture wars of … Read the rest
Continue reading "Making Holy, Together" »