Mark 3:20-35 And Jesus replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” The pertinence of this question came home to me in a powerful way in these last few days. I received a text from a young colleague. He had picked up a rumor that a road was blocked in the east part of town …
God’s Call: Hannah and Eli, Samuel and Eli’s Sons
1 Samuel 3:1-20 1 Samuel 1-4 I got thinking about one’s ‘sense of call’ the other night. Here is how it was. They were just about to start boarding my flight home on Friday and so I made one last run to the restroom. As I came back down the escalator to the gate area, …
It’s No Wonder Nicodemus Wondered… Revisited
Below you will find a re-working of a post which was published on this site in 2012. I have had an unusually full week with multiple hospital calls and a couple of funerals and I simply haven’t had the time and space to dwell deeply in the lessons for Holy Trinity. In addition, I fly …
A Pentecost Wind
Ezekiel 37:1-14 Acts 2:1-21 The wind blew one day a few weeks back. It blew in a time and place where I was not, but I quickly became aware of its power and its presence. It blew across open fields on one of the first days the farmers were able to get out on their …
Last Words…
John 17:6-19 I sat with my head bowed over my phone the other day as I attempted to take in words that were not surprising, but which I still somehow was not expecting. A colleague and friend of 30 years was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer less than two months ago. His children had just …
Learning to Love One Another
John 15:9-17 I picked up my guitar one evening last week. I bought it several years ago with a tax refund, remembering how I always wanted to learn to play. I pulled it out a few times early on, closely watching some on line videos to teach myself how to hold my fingers on the …
The Vine and Branches: On Music, Microbes and Memory
John 15:1-8 As I was driving across town this morning with a whole host of thoughts competing for my attention, this song came on the radio. “Pray” is performed by Sam Smith. As you can hear, the lyrics tell a story as old as time itself. It is a song of repentance and of yearning …
Those Other Sheep…
John 10:11-18 I have often wondered about those ‘other sheep’ to whom Jesus refers today. Specifically, who are they? And why does Jesus make it a point to mention them at all? In the midst of comforting words about his identity as the ‘good shepherd;’ Just before the promise that this shepherd would lay down …
Also Witnesses: Living in the Power of Forgiveness
Luke 24:36b-48 Not long ago I saw first hand how forgiveness can make all the difference. The sort of forgiveness which is the very heart of Jesus’ sending words for the disciples and for all of us today. But first, pause with me in the story itself… For it is so that we find ourselves …
I Can’t Wait: Embracing the Easter Promise
John 20:1-18 I carried the Sacrament of Holy Communion to one of our own the other day. It is quite certain he will not walk through the doors of our church ever again in this lifetime — and certainly not this Easter. So I filled a communion kit with wafers and wine and enough small …