Breathing Our Gratitude

It’s a wonderful experience when people clap and celebrate the fact that you’re alive! I got to walk the Survivors’ Lap again this weekend during our county’s Relay for Life: something I plan to do annually for the rest of my life. While I celebrated 3½ years healed from cancer, there are cancer fighters, survivors…

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Baptism, Connection, and Christ

Is interdependency a strength or a weakness? I remember hearing the old adage, “up by my own bootstraps,” as if self-sufficiency were something to be proud of. And as if it were actually possible, too. In this interconnected world it’s hard to even imagine being raised all on one’s own and finding one’s own way,…

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“My Child Is a Flower” Stewardship Songs

Rev. Dan Damon is an inspired writer of hymn texts and tunes, as well as a seminary teacher, pastor and friend. I was thrilled when he showed me a stewardship song he had written after I preached at his church one day. But his new songbook, My Child Is a Flower, contains many thoughtful, creative,…

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Wonder All Around

“Wonder all around” is the favorite phrase of Kathryn Shields, a friend and writer. She produces beautiful videos filled with her poetry alongside photographs of God’s intricate creation. This wonder-filled phrase has kept swirling in my head ever since she first shared it with me.                                                      – And especially this Advent/Christmas season, as we hear about…

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For All the Saints

I tend to feel at home in worship at any church, whatever its denomination, but particularly so on All Saints Sunday. On that day we thank God for the faithful mentors and models who have gone before us. But yesterday I was especially grateful to be invited to my friends’ Episcopal church. Some aspects of…

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Asking for a Clean Heart

Individual, arbitrary violence has been mounting increasingly in random settings across the United States. The massacre in Las Vegas last week seems like the culmination, where the shooter had a whole line of automatic weapons set up and trained on an outdoor concert crowd, and set them off, one after another. All these events couldn’t…

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Do What for Advent?

I know: theoretically you planned the fall annual stewardship emphasis back in the spring, but life often intervenes to upset even the best of plans. So now you’re looking for a stewardship theme to fit your revised schedule. And wouldn’t it be great if it had a creative approach and unique timing this year, when…

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The Joy of My Heart

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. . . . Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. (Psalm 119:105,111) I stand within a tradition that understands God’s Word – God’s Living Word – as active at the intersection of reading the Scriptures…

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Resurrection Generosity

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! On this Easter Day, I was thrilled to read today’s meditation from www.generositymonk.com. He cited Franklin Brookhart about “Resurrection Gratitude and Generosity.” Brookhart says: The resurrection of our Lord is the paradigm of the way God works. Resurrection means fullness and abundance of life – all of life.…

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God the Artist

“Great work, God!” called out Dr. Don Adams, prompting the conference audience to give a standing ovation in response to God’s artistry as Creator. That was many years ago, but I’ve never forgotten it, both because of its spontaneity and also because of its view of God as the ultimate Artist of life. Years ago…

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All Saints Day

It was a moving act of worship on Sunday, All Saints Day. People chose to come forward to light votive candles in memory of those who have inspired and helped shape their lives. I thought of my parents, mother-in-law, grandmother, two teachers and two mentors, all of whom have tried to “tame this wild beast”…

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“Star Child”

I was stunned by Carlton Young and Shirley Murray’s song, “Star Child,” in an Advent worship service this month. Hope Publishing Company brought it out in 1994, but this was the first time I’d heard it, from the songbook The Faith We Sing. It calls Jesus “Star-Child, earth-Child, go-between of God.” Then it identifies many…

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Offering Tips

One of the sites I check regularly is Alan Wildes, who goes by the name of Generosity Coach. In four brief video clips this past month, he has given tips for the offering which resonate with what I have been teaching, as well. Two clips deal with the importance of language, which shapes both our…

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Saying God’s Name

Words can shape our reality by forming the way we think about ourselves, the world, and even God. I have known and said that all my life, insisting on gender-inclusive words for people and for God. But this week that truth took a step deeper into my soul. Ever since my first Old Testament course…

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Redwoods and Growth

Many people are enjoying a Christmas tree in their homes this time of year, often a pine or fir in the European tradition. That’s true of our family, as well. But Christmas aside, I have been partial to the redwood tree for years now, not only because of its beauty but also because you can…

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