December 15, 2019 Advent 3
For years, as part of my sermon preparation every week, I have taken notes on the assigned readings for the upcoming Sunday. Every passage has its own page, covered in various colors of ink—words and ideas from various commentaries, my own thoughts, questions people have asked as we have studied them together…my method was inspired…
December 8, 2019 Advent 2
After dinner on Thanksgiving my nine-year-old great-niece Vivi and I were drawing while we waited for it to be time for dessert. I asked what she wanted to draw, and she said, “Mythological creatures!” So we drew mermaids, a unicorn and a Pegasus, griffins and dragons. Then she drew a lion. I was puzzled why…
December 1, 2019 Advent 1
The first November I was here in Oxford County, I went to the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts. A gorgeous collection, I encourage you to check it out if you’re ever in the area. While I was there, I saw flyer for Russian Cultural Festival at a local Russian Orthodox Church, happening that…
October 27, 2019 / Reformation Sunday
When I was a kid I read the entire “Little House” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder—Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek…there are seven or eight of them altogether, I think. I don’t know if they hold the same fascination for girls learning to read…
October 13, 2019
At one point on Wednesday, I checked to see how close we were to the full moon. I had several conversations with people who were anxious, and their anxiety was affecting their ability to express themselves clearly—and their ability to listen. They were caught up in their own narrative and couldn’t—or wouldn’t—open themselves to what…
October 6, 2019
October 6, 2019 Propers 22C Those of you familiar with Psalm 137 will notice that I left out verse nine. And if you are familiar with this psalm, you probably know why. I was not going to ask any of you to say those horrifying, violent words in the context of a worship service, even…
September 29, 2019 St. Michael and All Angels
Imagine I came to you and told you the following story. I was out in a remote place, and I saw a windstorm coming from the north, an immense cloud full of lightening, surrounded by light. The center of the cloud glows with four living creatures, that look a little like human beings, but each…
September 22, 2019
On Tuesday morning, as I drove into town, there was a huge cluster of cars and trucks by one house on my road. The driveway was overfull, cars lined the street 25 feet or more in either direction. I wondered at it, but not for long. Later, Don Tikander mentioned seeing it on Facebook, only…
September 15, 2019
On Wednesday morning, as we read these passages, I commented after the psalm, “Well now, aren’t THOSE just the most cheerful readings we’ve had in a while!” Destruction, despair, fools declaring there is no God and the consequences they’ll face…yikes. The epistle reading and the gospel brightened things up a little, but the harshness of…
September 8, 2019
Oh the riches available to me in today’s reading choices! It’s one of those rare times I would like to be a pastor who can preach for 45 minutes, just to say everything I want to about all these readings…okay, everybody relax, I’m not going to preach for that long. I have to make a…
