Friday, January 8, 2021 | Reflections
Harriet Bedell was an Episcopal deaconess, first working with the Cheyenne people in Oklahoma. Later, she continued her work with indigenous people in Alaska, where she started a school in the small village of Tanana, a town I was blessed to visit several years ago....
Thursday, January 7, 2021 | Reflections
Our guide in Cana told us this joke: “The wine is so bad in Cana that if Jesus were here today, he would turn the wine back into water.” I am not prepared to debate the truth of that statement, but Cana, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Jericho, and Hebron are all still...
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 | Reflections
The Epiphany of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a celebration often missed in the flurry and exhaustion of Advent and Christmas. Nevertheless, the Feast of the Epiphany is the culmination of Christmas. The magi went home, the story says, but they went...
Tuesday, January 5, 2021 | Reflections
The word abide is defined as “to accept or act in accordance with (a rule, decision, or recommendation).” Abiding with Jesus means more than merely accepting or agreeing to spend time with him—it means living into and out of the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus....
Monday, January 4, 2021 | Reflections
Born in 1774 in New York City, Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first person from the United States of America to be beatified by the Vatican. Mother Seton founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph, the first order of nuns in the United States. Seton’s name is on many...
Sunday, January 3, 2021 | Reflections
As a youth, I stayed out way past my curfew. When I arrived in our neighborhood, I had my buddy turn off the headlights about a block away from my house. I slunk out of the car, tiptoed up the sidewalk, and gingerly opened our front door. Just as I was...
Saturday, January 2, 2021 | Reflections
Faith is a word that carries a lot of baggage in the religious world. It is bandied around easily by some and carefully avoided by others. Faith comes from the Greek word pistis, which (I would argue) is more akin to trust. We have faith in many thi….(View this...
Friday, January 1, 2021 | Reflections
Mary treasuring and pondering all words she’d been hearing since her son’s birth may be one of the most loaded lines in scripture. “Treasuring the words” is an interesting take. “Pondering them,” even more. She treasured and pondered them, right up to the foot of the...
Thursday, December 31, 2020 | Reflections
If you knew Jerri, you knew one of the faces of Jesus. She was a beloved woman in our congregation who loved life and willingly gave herself to God and the service of God’s people. Jerri was the first person to step up for anything. She joyfully decorated….(View...
Wednesday, December 30, 2020 | Reflections
Camp Barnabas was a place I loved visiting as a child and young adult. A camp for disabled children and adults, Camp Barnabas was a place where many of us could feel relaxed and free to be ourselves, together with other disabled people. Some of us also served as staff...
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 | Reflections
Trying to be entirely blameless is exhausting. When we attempt this, we become unhappy and unable to accept failures or mistakes. We deceive ourselves into believing that we are something we are not—and can’t be. God knows we mess up. God gives the gift….(View...
Monday, December 28, 2020 | Reflections
Joseph’s mind must be in such a spin—weird dreams with angels and wise men and a new baby and more weird dreams with angels. He’s dealing with a lot of new information and a significant amount of pressure from all angles. Joseph does what parents all ….(View...
Sunday, December 27, 2020 | Reflections
Jesus revealed to the entire world how much God wants a relationship with us. Out of God’s own love, God became one of us. God’s love for us in Jesus is what makes our lives of faith possible—and impossibly, improbably good. ….(View this reading and more...
Saturday, December 26, 2020 | Reflections
In just two days, the lectionary has taken us from glad tidings flying from angels’ wings in Luke to wayward chicks being gathered under chickens’ wings in Matthew. Yesterday, Isaiah told us about the Prince of Peace and the establishment of the everlasting justice of...
Friday, December 25, 2020 | Reflections
Mary knew her baby would probably be born on the road, so she packed a bag for him. She didn’t know where he would be born, but she knew he would need something soft to keep him warm. My mother knew I was coming, too. Even though I couldn’t stay with her….(View...
