Wednesday, December 9, 2020 | Reflections
The psalmist is helpless, weak, possessed of a soul that “is weary with sorrow.” Nonetheless, the psalmist wants to remain focused on God’s decrees. Succumbing to fear or insecurity or hostility or meanness is as dangerous as it ever was—more dangerous even than...
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 | Reflections
Once, I was eating quietly at a favorite café in town, enjoying some alone time. As I prepared to leave, I asked a waitress to assist me. Despite her best efforts and my repeated attempts to explain how to help me, we did not have a good interaction. Flustered, I...
Monday, December 7, 2020 | Community Ministry, Reflections
by the Rev. Seamus Doyle, member of the Addiction Recover Ministry As I talk to clergy and other professionals about addiction and recovery, there seems to be the impression that “alcoholics are not responsible.” What we have to keep in mind is that those who...
Monday, December 7, 2020 | Reflections
For the last three years, I have had the privilege of speaking at career day at my nephews’ school. I talk to fourth graders about being an artist—it’s one of the highlights of my year. I love children’s genuine curiosity and teachable attitudes. La….(View this...
Sunday, December 6, 2020 | Reflections
Late one afternoon, a dear friend I hadn’t seen in years came to see me at the art gallery. We laughed and shared stories with my gallery friends and co-creators. We made plans to enjoy a quiet dinner later that evening. Just as we were closing the galler….(View...
Saturday, December 5, 2020 | Reflections
When we lived in Memphis, Tennessee, our family provided meals and a quiet space for prayer and spiritual guidance for people who didn’t know where else to go. One afternoon, Mom found a man on our front porch. We let him sleep for a while, and when he wo….(View...
Friday, December 4, 2020 | Reflections
When I was a little girl, I was fascinated by C.S. Lewis’s book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I was low-key obsessed with how Aslan tore the White Witch to shreds and freed Narnia from her evilness and hate. As I study today’s passage ….(View this...
Thursday, December 3, 2020 | Reflections
From the Archives: April 14, 1956Do the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus ever frustrate you? They do me. They nearly got me down once. I wanted to be good. I tried to fulfill all the requirements of Christianity. I wanted to be acceptable to God. I can still see...
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | Reflections
Fear seizes us in strange ways and times. People around the world are still struggling to cope with all we know and don’t know about COVID-19. However, some beautiful things have happened in the middle of sorrow. Chinese medical supplies arrived in Italy ….(View...
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 | Reflections
I remember my mother’s voice as she read the news at our breakfast table. Information about the killing of five little Amish girls at their schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, swept across the United States like wildfire. And then a miracle happene….(View...
Monday, November 30, 2020 | Reflections
Some of the most profound experiences I have had of God have been in class discussions or the words of medieval mystics or sitting by hospital beds. But when I try to imagine the presence of God, these aren’t the moments that come to my mind. The truly...
Sunday, November 29, 2020 | Reflections
Here we are, crossing the threshold of Advent—a season designated for holy waiting. We mark the time until Jesus’ birth with study, prayer, fasting, and acts of charity. We keep awake, trimming the wicks in our lamps and making sure to bring extra oil. ….(View...
Saturday, November 28, 2020 | Reflections
As we slide toward Advent, the lectionary throws us into the midst of the apocalyptic. Much like our time in Revelation earlier this month, the imagery heralding the Coming of the Lord can be both frightening and strange. In our reading from Zechariah, we...
Friday, November 27, 2020 | Reflections
Frank Wade, a professor of preaching and an Episcopal priest, encourages his students to be as creative as possible in imagining the characters that we don’t get to hear in the Bible. What if there was a girl in another village who couldn’t quite manage the “yes” that...
Thursday, November 26, 2020 | Reflections
From the Archives: February 24, 1956The thought this week has been to develop the idea that true prayer starts with, and is always, the sense of being in God’s presence. First, we think about God. We think only of the Being of God. We quie….(View this reading...
