Wednesday, December 26, 2018 | Reflections
Stephen lives in a besieged city, occupied by all sorts of powers and principalities. He knows this psalm—it’s probably committed to memory—and he has likely prayed it when he thinks about the prophets who have come before him. The honesty and rawness, bravery and...
Tuesday, December 25, 2018 | Reflections
An angel of the Lord appeared in the middle of nowhere and announced to a group of manual laborers that the great kinsman redeemer and savior of the world had been born. God trusted the word of a young girl, the goodness of a bewildered young man, and the...
Monday, December 24, 2018 | Reflections
Part of my professional church lady life has included praying alongside small children. During the Lord’s Prayer, I once heard a four-year-old pray, “…an’ weed us not into ten stations, but deliber us from eagles…” He was ardent in his prayer, eyes closed, chubby...
Sunday, December 23, 2018 | Reflections
Today’s reading is so singular. Nothing else like this has happened before and will never happen again. I struggle to find myself in this story, to try and fit myself inside of Mary’s or Elizabeth’s experience. Then I remember the women I know—women who have...
Saturday, December 22, 2018 | Reflections
The people to whom Isaiah is speaking have heard the story of the exodus over and over again. They know that the worst that could happen to them as a people and as individuals is to sever the covenant between them and God, to be a people without name or place or...
Friday, December 21, 2018 | Reflections
I don’t know if Thomas missed the memo for the meeting at the clubhouse, or if he was keeping an eye and an ear on what was being said in town about Jesus’ body going missing, or if maybe he just needed some time to himself. Jesus loves Thomas—that’s clear in his...
Thursday, December 20, 2018 | General Convention
“Las copresentadoras del Today Show Hoda Kotb, a la izquierda, y Savannah Guthrie escuchan el 1 de noviembre al obispo primado Michael Curry hablar acerca del poder del amor. Fue una de las muchas entrevistas de prensa que Curry concedió este año. Foto de The Today...
Thursday, December 20, 2018 | Reflections
There’s an early episode of Aaron Sorkin’s masterpiece The West Wing in which one of the senior staff members (Josh) receives special instructions for what to do in case of a major emergency, what we’ve come to call continuity of government. When Josh realizes that no...
Wednesday, December 19, 2018 | Reflections
The news is on in the background while I’m writing this to you. The headlines keep breaking my heart. I keep waiting for something to crack open hearts, open eyes, unstop ears, lay ourselves bare to the call of God to do right by each other.And then I remember: God...
Tuesday, December 18, 2018 | Reflections
Since the middle of September, I’ve been watching the evening sun sink earlier and earlier. Now, my husband and I drive to work in the dark, and it’s dark when he picks me up to go home at the end of the day. All up and down our rural road, neighbors have put up...
Monday, December 17, 2018 | General Convention
“Today Show” co-hosts Hoda Kotb, left, and Savannah Guthrie listen Nov. 1 as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry talks about the power of love. It was one of many media interviews Curry gave this year. Photo: “The Today Show” [Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church...
Monday, December 17, 2018 | Reflections
Every time we send a book to the printer, my heart sings. Publishing books is not unlike childbirth—or so I’ve been told. There comes a moment for the author and editor when we each realize that the book we’ve made together is a living thing, separate from our hands...
Sunday, December 16, 2018 | Reflections
I know the heady rush of a party going well and the mounting dread of one that is not. When everyone is having a good time, I’m all in. But when that one person who always acts like a maniac starts acting like I knew they would, it’s hard to stick around longer than...
Saturday, December 15, 2018 | Reflections
I am one of God’s children who is particularly gifted with learning things the hard way. On deadline or under stress, I stick to my to-do list and don’t waver. And then, when I’m almost done, when I can see the finish line, I trip on Jesus and end up falling into a...
Friday, December 14, 2018 | Reflections
I can see Isaiah: one hand in his hair, the other hand pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes squinted shut, cords on his neck standing out with effort as he struggles to keep his temper with King Ahaz. The king turns out to be such a rotten specimen that he’s not even...
