Sometime in the few years after my kids were too old for such things, a friend of mine, an Episcopal priest, started posting pictures on her social media of her “wandering wisemen.” I have to say, I was jealous I missed out on the chance to pick up this tradition with our family, but with […]
The first Sunday after Christmas is always a little… barren. Let’s be honest about that. We were just here a few days ago. We lit candles on Christmas Eve. We sang Silent Night. We heard the angels, the shepherds, the good news of great joy. Some of us are still tired from hosting, traveling, cooking, or simply being around people for an extended period […]
Many of us might have learned that fear is a problem that must be overcome. Or that feeling fear is a negative emotion that we are supposed to push down. Or maybe we feel something along the lines of if we were truly faithful, truly trusting God; we would feel calmer, steadier, more certain, less […]
In the book of Matthew, John the Baptist, first comes on the scene after the story of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. That is Matthew jumps from the angelic annunciation to Joseph that his betrothed would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, to the arrival of wise men who came sometime after that child […]
We are beginning our Advent, our new church year and the time in which we anticipate Christ’s historical and contemporary and future breaking into the human experience, right at the beginning of the gospel according to Luke. It’s a different place to do it. Many times we start with big cosmic stories of apocalypse. Other […]
Today is the last Sunday of the “church” year. This typically falls right before our Thanksgiving Holiday. A day set aside by our government as a special time in which to give thanks for all the blessings bestowed upon our nation. Additionally, it is a day to think about our strength in diversity, as we […]
Of course, there are some passages in Scripture that are pretty intense, sometimes so much so that it causes us to fidget a little or sit up a little straighter when we hear them. Malachi gives us one of those moments, which is why I think it’s worth reading the passage again. These three verses […]
There’s usually a moment in big project when we stop and look around and wonder if it’s worth continuing. We begin with hope and excitement, with energy and vision, imagining the finished goal. But somewhere along the way, the excitement dulls or the frustration kicks in. And whatever we are working toward becomes harder to […]
Let’s be honest with one another. Joel is one of those books of the Bible that when it’s time to look for it, we just start a little more than halfway back, and just flip through the pages until we see the heading go back. I mean, unless you are one of those people who […]
When Paul writes his second letter to Timothy, he’s nearing the end of his journey. He’s tired, imprisoned, and uncertain how much time he has left. This work has cost him everything, but his faith is still alive and his ministry is still not over, even if it is coming to an end. So he […]
Comedian Gianmarco Soresi has a bit in his stand-up routine about how he realized when he hit his thirties how difficult it is maintain friendships. It’s the kind of comedy bit where if you take the eventual punchline away (which is exactly what I’m going to do), it makes a quite touching point. He acknowledges […]
Rev. Stephanie Anthony: The prophet, Habakkuk, planted himself at a watch post to wait and see how God would answer him. When he had seen the violence that God’s people were experiencing at the hands of their enemies, he challenged God, “Will you not save us?” To Habakkuk it seemed like God was sleeping on […]