In John’s Gospel, Jesus offers these words that we hear, more often than not, at funerals. “‘Do not let your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a…

A particular collect points out a dilemma I want to discuss. Allow me to share it with you: “O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding. Pour into our hearts such love toward you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may…

We find a startling juxtaposition in the New Testament, a juxtaposition between hatred—the world hating you (1 John 3:13-16) and love—the call to love one another (Matt. 10:34-42). All of that is really emblematic of the story of St. Alban from the early 200s in England. It comes from the area we would now call…

In the past two posts, we have been examining Pentecost and its invitation to “all who are thirsty” as well as the risk and reward it entails. But how does Pentecost impact us as we live out the Christian life today? In the midst of the extraordinary changes that have happened in our world, for…

In Part 1 of this series, we talked about Jesus’ invitation to “all who are thirsty.” But before we can come and drink at the well of the Spirit, before God can touch us in the deep places, we must open our hearts. Otherwise, it is possible to create such an ordered life that we…

Just prior to the Feast of Pentecost that we celebrate each year, Jesus said some extraordinary words. It happened during the Feast of Booths, which is roughly correspondent with our Thanksgiving.  ‘If Any One Thirst’ It’s an ingathering. It’s harvest. It’s celebration. People come from all over the Mediterranean to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Anybody…

‘Though I Walk Through the Valley of the Shadow’ One of the things that has held me together as someone in the ordained ministry is colleagues, both formal and informal relationships that allow me to check in and who check in with me: “How are you doing? How can I be praying for you?” as…

I’m probably like most of you. I don’t like social distancing, and I like wearing a mask and gloves even less. These tools have become symbols of isolation, of keeping one’s distance, reminding us in a very visceral way that we’re on our own, cut off from the many friends on whom we would normally…

Over and over again, God has turned my mourning into dancing. That’s one reason I identify with the psalmist who says these exact words in Psalm 30:  Oh Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks…

Not long ago, I was sending an email to a friend of mine. He is a young Reformed minister, and for him, the whole occasion of Maundy Thursday is foreign – at least to his branch of that tradition. So I sent him an email describing a little bit about what we would normally do…