If you happen to follow clergy social media—of which there is a lot—you could not have escaped the fact that Ash Wednesday coincides with Valentine’s Day this year. I can’t escape it personally, either, as my dear husband—who generally does Valentine’s Day very well—will be home alone this year. I’m going to have to make it up … Read the rest
Continue reading "VaLENTine's Day" »
Together with some of you at Trinity, I spent Ash Wednesday—the first of forty days of Lenten self-denial that precede Easter—out on the streets of San Jose imposing ashes on the foreheads of people who had little need of them. The people sleeping rough in our urban parks and sidewalks know what it is to do without, … Read the rest
Continue reading "Honest to Grief" »
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment, Luke tells us. OK, but I’m not really sure I believe it. Just the day before, darkness had come over the whole land and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. That is to say, all the most reliable measures of life—the rotation of the earth … Read the rest
Continue reading "Wait with the Women" »
Last Sunday, during our noon forum hour we showed the first of twelve videos produced by the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real. They feature conversations with local Episcopalians of color, and I have found them to be very moving. Today we’ll be hearing from Salying Wong, rector of St. Thomas Sunnyvale. But last week the video featured Brett Wormley, … Read the rest
Continue reading "Can it be that Bad?" »“There’s no way out,” lamented a headline from Houston this week. Of all the horrifying and heartbreaking reportage from the flood zone, this one felt the most personal because just a week ago Saturday I was sitting in an eerily quiet airport terminal in Austin Texas, similarly wondering if there were a way out. Which of course there … Read the rest
Continue reading "It's All One Way" »
Last Friday evening I picked my husband up from the airport. And because he’d been away for the week I wanted to do something fun, but also something that wasn’t dependent on his flight getting in on time.
To make a long story short, we ended up at St. Antonius Coptic Orthodox Church in Hayward, … Read the rest
Continue reading "Sacred Profanity" »