Follow Jesus or go away grieving. How many of us have ever faced a decision that felt so consequential and so… binary? Get married or stay single or divorce. Buy a car or not. Have a child. Quit a job. We struggle with these kinds of decisions, and rightfully so, especially if we think that choosing one possibility … Read the rest
Continue reading "Non-Binary" »
What are you hungry for? What kind of bread actually fills you up? What would it really be like to never hunger again? By Biblical standards, those are serious questions; perhaps some of the most serious questions any of us will ever ask of ourselves. And according to Jesus, the answer has everything to do with how we … Read the rest
Continue reading "Eat THIS Bread" »
What is it? Given that the Israelites were far from home and hungry, and what was available to them was a peculiar flaky substance left behind by the dew after a flock of quails invaded their camp, that seems like an entirely fair question. Moses attempted to reassure them by saying “it is the bread that the Lord has given … Read the rest
Continue reading "What Is It?" »
The feeding of the five thousand, according to John. If we’ve been coming to church for a while, we’ve heard this story so many times. And we should hear it many times! It’s so central to Jesus’ ministry that it is the only miracle to appear—in its various versions—in all four Gospels. It underlies our ritual practices of … Read the rest
Continue reading "All Heaven Breaking Loose" »
“I know a person… who was caught up into Paradise,” Paul wrote to the church in Corinth nearly two thousand years ago. “Even considering the exceptional character of the revelations, however, I refrain from boasting.”
This passage is one of my favorites in all of Paul’s voluminous correspondence to the early church, in large part because it … Read the rest
Continue reading "Unexceptional" »
“Your daughter is dead.” I can imagine no more dreadful words for a parent to hear, and it almost makes me tremble to say them out loud on a Sunday when we celebrate my own adult child’s ministry at Trinity. Given his childhood mischief—some of it acted out in church—Lord knows how he reached adulthood alive! And soon … Read the rest
Continue reading "Live Without Fear" »
What’s the deal with mustard, anyway?
I know it’s an odd question. But since we just heard Mark’s version of the famous parable of the mustard seed I want to reflect a bit on my relationship to its condiment cousin. I don’t know about you, but I have lots of mustard in my refrigerator. There are all these odd shaped … Read the rest
Continue reading "Growing Sacred Seeds" »
“How can anyone be born after having grown old?” It’s a reasonable question. How indeed? But rather than waiting for an answer, Nicodemus narrowed his focus to biology “Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus was not impressed, evidently. “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not … Read the rest
Continue reading "Born into One" »
Mortals, can these bones Live? Can these tired and lonely people know God’s love, can this online worship glorify God for those who need to be at home, can the Altar Guild and ushers re-group for the benefit of those who are in church, can the choir sing safely, can these bills be paid? Can the church as … Read the rest
Continue reading "Tell it [and] Live" »
Happy Mother’s Day, to all of us who have mothers. Good mothers, stressed mothers, imperfect mothers, addicted mothers, angry mothers, surrogate mothers, loving mothers. All of them—and all of us—doing the best we are able to, with the help of God’s own motherly care.
Most of you know that my own son Aaron has been serving as Trinity’s … Read the rest
Continue reading "A Joy Complete" »