Monday, March 19, 2018 | Reflections
In searching for Jesus, Zacchaeus climbs a tree to get a better look. The blind man from yesterday’s reading cries out until he has Jesus’ attention. Both men persist until they find Jesus. Perhaps this relentless persistence is why these stories appeal so much to...
Monday, March 19, 2018 | Reflections
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Sunday, March 18, 2018 | Reflections
I have been discovering something about Lent which I had heretofore missed. It is a time when the demons get out. Demons? This is the twenty-first century, isn’t it, and the only people who believe in such entities are the ignorant, superstitious, and biblical...
Sunday, March 18, 2018 | Reflections
I imagine this blind man sitting on the side of the road, in the back of the crowd, sensing that something important is happening. He learns from the people near him that Jesus is passing by. And so he shouts for Jesus to have mercy on him. Those crowded around the...
Saturday, March 17, 2018 | Reflections
John 12: 20-33 “What are you huffing about, McMillan?” It was one of my colleagues. Four of us had gone out to the lake for a much-needed, and well-deserved afternoon of relaxation. There is nothing lovelier than a bright blue lake in the middle of...
Saturday, March 17, 2018 | Reflections
Some people wear green on the feast day of Saint Patrick and march in parades; others drink green beer. We have managed to box Patrick up pretty tightly and miss the point of his life: To live and preach the Good News of God in Christ. These middle chapters in Luke...
Friday, March 16, 2018 | Reflections
St. Patrick’s Day, a day when things turn green. People wear green T-shirts, eat green bagels, drink green beer, stuff themselves with corned beef and cabbage and potatoes, and in short, party. It doesn’t matter whether or not they are actually Irish, of Irish...
Friday, March 16, 2018 | Reflections
Lot and his wife are told by God to run from their home without looking back, because the town of Sodom will soon be destroyed. And with the help of some angels, they run. Sadly though, Lot’s wife glances back toward home and is turned into a pillar of salt. She never...
Thursday, March 15, 2018 | Reflections
Daily Office Readings for March 16, 2018: AM Psalm 95 [for the Invitatory] 102; PM Psalm 107:1-32 Exod. 2:1-22; 1 Cor. 12:27-13:3; Mark 9:2-13 I have to admit, Paul’s Epistle speaks to me this week, possibly because Diamond, my new 9 month old lab mix puppy,...
Thursday, March 15, 2018 | Reflections
In my mid-20s, I rented an apartment from a colleague. She warned me before I moved in that I might hear negative things about her. There had been one or two complaints from tenants, she said, but her tenants had misspoken and were “crazy.” Soon I realized that my...
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | Reflections
Mark 8:27—9:1 By U.S. standards I am not a wealthy person, but I have more freedom, safety and access to the resources I need than most people in the world. I have clean water, enough fresh food, basic medical and dental care. A computer, for heaven’s sake,...
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | Reflections
Recently I saw a young woman in the restroom at a baseball game. She was standing next to the paper towel holder, wiping her eyes, and silently sobbing. I didn’t want to embarrass her and didn’t know what to do. I soundlessly said a prayer and cast my eyes away....
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 | Reflections
Seventeen. Seventeen bodies. Seventeen minutes. In some places, they will wait longer: twenty minutes; thirty; because seventeen is too young to die; because they have had to grow old before their time; because there are too many more bodies. Last week, the Episcopal...
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 | Reflections
This is one of the most confusing and seemingly disheartening stories in the New Testament. Apparently, we can’t stay on the high road forever. Jesus appears to be commending a dishonest steward for acting shrewdly. The steward is facing a huge transition in his own...
Monday, March 12, 2018 | Reflections
Sometimes you need the reminder that God’s in control. That this crazy, fear-inducing, 24-hour-news-cycle world we live in isn’t our only reality. That guns and violence and hatred aren’t the only ways our children will experience school. That people will be known for...
