Over the past few years, I have noticed that a new expression has entered the everyday speech of many Americans: “Living your best life.” There are hundreds and hundreds of self-help books carrying this title or this phrase within their titles. If you google the phrase, you will get millions of results for websites and […]
Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity (it did not need changing)! Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.[1] My spiritual practice during Advent this year was to read Richard Rohr’s book, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis Assisi. Rohr is an American Franciscan priest […]
The God I know through the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures is a God who desperately wants to get our attention. This God that our ancestors in the faith wrote about in our sacred writings is not a God who is distant or uncaring. The Divine one portrayed in the pages of our Bible is passionately […]
Last week we heard the story of John the Baptist appearing in the desert to proclaim repentance and announce the coming of the Messiah. I have always admired this portrait of John the Baptist. He is courageous and fiery. He is as “prophety” as you can get. He’s a prophet’s prophet you might say. But […]
Here we are at the end of the season of Pentecost. For many months now we have been walking with Jesus during his earthly ministry. We have seen him teach, preach, pray, heal, and challenge. Next week we begin again with Advent as we wait in hope and expectation for Jesus’ birth and when we […]
“For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. . . . The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox. . .” This passage from Isaiah is one of my favorite passages in […]
In preparation for a clergy day this past Thursday, we were asked to read the book, The Gatherings: Reimaging Indigenous-Settler Relations. Through a series of interviews, the book recounts the experiences of people who participated in a program called the Gatherings. This program took place for more than a decade and ended over 30 years […]
“Zacchaeus was a wee little man And a wee little man was he He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see.” How many of you learned that song as a child? It is the soundtrack that plays in my head every three years when the story of Zacchaeus turns […]
The parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. On its surface this is such a simple parable. The tax collector is humble and recognizes his need for God, so he is good. The Pharisee is arrogant and recognizes only his need for himself, so he is bad. Moral of the story: be humble and […]
As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. So, as we’ve entered the official stewardship season of the church, I’ve been thinking […]