“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 "Leavened with Compassion" »
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" »
Our own Honorary Canon Jim Bethell recently told me a story about visiting a crematorium and peering through the peephole that allowed him to see a human body in the process of becoming ash. His main takeaway was surprise. The body was luminous, he said. The process seemed to generate more of a glow than … Read the rest
Continue reading "Why Not Become Fire?" »Genesis 18:20-32
Luke 11:1-13
Today’s Gospel is one that evokes great humility for a preacher. Well, that’s true of almost any Gospel. But what could I possibly say this morning that would add anything to the Lord’s Prayer, which has preached itself through the prayers of billions of people over thousands of years? You all know this prayer; you’ve prayed … Read the rest
Some years ago I embarked on a long retreat with a new spiritual director, and at our first session he asked me how and how often I pray. Seems like a reasonable question for a spiritual director to ask, but somehow it made me feel a bit like I do when the dentist asks me how often I … Read the rest
Continue reading "Impressed with Prayer" »