There he was a man who could not walk surrounded by other people with various impairments, lying by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years. That is a really long time. Every day, he watched others enter the water, water that was believed to have healing power when stirred by an angel. But […]

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May 18, 2025 5 Easter

I recently finished reading a book by a sociologist of religion, Rodney Stark, titled The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History. In this book, Stark seeks to answer the question: “How did a tiny obscure messianic movement from the edge of the Roman Empire dislodge classical paganism and become the dominant faith of western […]

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“So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” John 10:24-25 Our Gospel reading for […]

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The final year of my master’s program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling involved an internship in clinical settings. I served part of my hours at a grief counseling center helping to run two grief support groups. I thought I already knew a lot about grief through my many years as an Episcopal priest, but I […]

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I was recently reading a sermon written by the Episcopal priest and author, Barbara Brown Taylor and there was an idea from the sermon that has stayed with me and seemed particularly relevant as I read our passage from acts for this morning. She was speaking about the times when we feel God is absent […]

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Over the two and a half decades that I have served parishes as an ordained person, I have had the privilege of being with many people at the end of their lives. I have seen people die suddenly whose family and friends were completely unprepared for their death. And I have been with people who […]

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