Mudbloods and Messiahs
About a year and a half ago, I attended a lecture by the New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity, John Dominic Crossan. If you have ever sat near me during a lecture, you know that I am a …
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What is Right and What is Easy
In 2000, I was a college student working as a part-time children’s ministry leader. There were two fourth grade boys in my Wed. afterschool group who did not want to do anything except play four-square and hide in the basement …
Continue readingWound Care
Here is what J.K. Rowling says about Harry Potter’s iconic scar on his forehead: “I wanted him to be physically marked by what he has been through inside. I gave him a scar and in a prominent place so other …
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Transplant
The Surprise Garden Revisited Mark 4; Psalm 126 Meditation, part 1 It’s been five years since I preached here for the first time. The audition sermon for ministers in a search in our denomination is now called a “candidating sermon.” …
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Original Blessing
The Garden of Eden, a perfect place. Safe, comfortable, a place where everything is named and maintained. A place where all of your needs are met – and we have learned that when all of your needs are met, you …
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Falling to Earth
Lately, I have been reading several science fiction novels. It’s my favorite genre. My partner recently gifted with wonderful book called The Sparrow. For those of you who have not read it, it is about a group of Jesuits who, …
Continue readingThe Garden Inside
Scripture reading: 1 Peter 4:8-9 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve …
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Surprising Spiritual Awareness
We are in the season of pivotal moments—spring, graduation, Memorial Day when we remember those who have died in service of the country, endings and beginnings. Big and small moments mark the times of our lives, touchstones. “I remember that,” …
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The Ordinary Extraordinary Spiritual Practice of Letting Go
READINGS: Letting go is not optional in this life, any more than exhaling is optional to breathing. What we call life is in fact a process of attaching and detaching, going on at every moment. That is the “sweet and …
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For the Beauty of the Earth
Thank you so much for inviting me to talk with you today and by the generosity of our friend John Moran, whose photos evoke the hymn: For the beauty of the Earth, for the glory of the skies, For the …
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