Wednesday, January 9, 2019 | Reflections
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus heals a long-time invalid who has no idea who Jesus is, let alone proclaim faith in him. Jesus heals him anyway. Under the management of a savvy director, our region’s food bank has grown in vo….(View this reading and more...
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 | Reflections
The light of Epiphany shines brightly from this story in John. But there is much to ponder. The story ends with a final statement about the official: “So he and all his household believed.” What do these people believe? There’s no Nicene Creed to fall back on, so what...
Monday, January 7, 2019 | General Convention
[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church’s five-week-old plan to give same-sex couples unfettered access to marriage in all of its domestic dioceses is still clouded by requirements not envisioned by the enabling resolution and has broken the relationships of...
Monday, January 7, 2019 | Reflections
I already miss our Christmas tree and the crèche on the end table. During the dark mornings of Advent and Christmastide, I spend time in silence, staring at the assembled scene illumined by the soft glow of tree lights. Baby Jesus in the manger, arms outstretched,...
Sunday, January 6, 2019 | Reflections
“Reading of the will” scenes in movies reveal the true nature of the assembled heirs, and it’s usually a pretty dysfunctional picture. The good news of the Epiphany celebration is that this footage from our own lives of faith has been destroyed. Paul writes that this...
Saturday, January 5, 2019 | Reflections
Be encouraged by today’s readings about God’s faithfulness through the ages. God tells Joshua and the Israelites to be strong and courageous as they pass into the Promised Land because God is with them wherever they go. In Hebrews, we read about Jesus being the author...
Friday, January 4, 2019 | Reflections
In the last years of my mother’s earthly life, she granted me power of attorney. She knew she needed help dealing with finances and living arrangements. The honor of her trust carried the weight of decision-making, especially as her dementia prevented good...
Thursday, January 3, 2019 | Reflections
In the face of dwindling attendance, many churches respond by enthusiastically pouncing on visitors with radical hospitality—fresh bread, coffee mugs, a schedule of upcoming events, information about the nursery and Sunday School. It’s very nice—for those visiting the...
Wednesday, January 2, 2019 | Reflections
A crowd follows Jesus by boat across the Sea of Galilee after hearing him preach and being miraculously fed. Jesus tries to help them fully digest what they have experienced. He tells them—and us—that he is the bread they should be seeking. For some, the….(View...
Tuesday, January 1, 2019 | Reflections
My mom must have been at her wits’ end after my father died. During my wild teenage years, I was brazen and self-assured—and bristled angrily at her mandates. Whether the day ended on a sweet or sour chord between us, as we went to bed each night, my mom….(View...
Monday, December 31, 2018 | Reflections
Jesus and I both come from places that we understand and identify with down to our bones. I’m a sixth-generation native Texan, and some of my relatives came from Europe to Appalachia to the wide-open spaces of McCulloch County and stayed there. That’s where I’m...
Sunday, December 30, 2018 | Reflections
We can’t ever be Jesus, but we can see what he does and strive to be like him. Living out a faith and loving out a law are the fruits of that labor. Being like Jesus is doing the work he has given us to do and not making that work small or stingy or belittling the...
Saturday, December 29, 2018 | Reflections
Today, the church remembers Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, a martyr for the faith. I also remember the men, women, and children killed in the Wounded Knee massacre, Archbishop Óscar Romero, Sophie Scholl, faithful members at Mother Emanuel in Charleston,...
Friday, December 28, 2018 | Reflections
We sit here, caught somewhere between cooing over the Baby in the manger and keening over the babies sacrificed to satiate Herod’s thirst for power and his fear of losing it. It is hard to sit still in these difficult, confusing, conflicting feelings. The intensity of...
Thursday, December 27, 2018 | Reflections
My favorite stories in the Bible are the ones that take place between rocks and hard places, when the glory of God shows up in ways we cannot mistake for anything other than revelatory. Moses, Elijah, Ezekiel, Peter, John, and Mary (to name just a few) have stories to...
