We cling to hope – Even when the world seems hopeless. We rest in peace – Even when the world urges us to hustle and bustle. We find joy – Even when sorrow and sickness surround us. We bask in love – The love you sent to this world, In the form of the Christ …
As we celebrated our hanging of the greens service, I was reminded of two years ago when I decorate in a silent sanctuary not to gather to celebrate the coming of the Light of the World, but instead to set a background for the numerous videos and reflections I would record in order to celebrate …
Last year during Advent, I released my first book called Morning Light and what I discovered was when you send the light out, light returns to you. My favorite reminder of this was the candles I received. These candles have anchored this past year reminding me that when we open ourselves to finding the light, …
As I walked into the sanctuary this morning, I realized I had accidentally left on the lights behind our stained glass windows. As I looked closer, I checked in our “hope” window. We’ve been watching that window because it’s started to teeter a bit. The weight of the biggest stain glass is showing the impact …
In the midst of my preparation for our Advent Journey, I have revisited Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark. This morning, she reminded me: “By day, I am a servant of the urgent. Nothing important has a chance with me. I am too consumed with the things that must be done to …
Advent reminded us to watch and wait and here we are still watching and waiting even though the Divine is come. We are watching and waiting with bated breath to see whether there will be a peaceful transition of power, especially in light of the events on Epiphany. We are watching and waiting to see …
As we were on our morning walk, the five-year-old asked, “Why are people taking their Christmas decorations down and we aren’t?” It’s the kind of question that a clergy parent waits and hopes for. I explained that Christmas isn’t over on December 25 and in fact the season after Christmas is the time that we …
Each year, a word crystallizes as the word of the year. It’s never at the beginning and rarely clear until there later in the year. This year was surprising to be sure. In January, we celebrated our daughter’s first birthday surrounded by friends and family at one of our favorite restaurants. In February, I accepted …
Richard Rohr in his daily mediation on December 29 described the fixed point saying: The fixed point is our place to stand. It is a contemplative stance: steady, centered, poised, and rooted. To be contemplative, we have to have a slight distance from the world to allow time for withdrawal from business as usual, for …
This week is the week where Christmas and Christmastide collide every year. For many who celebrate a cultural Christmas, this week is full of taking down decorations, reorganizing, and decluttering in order to get ready for the New Year. For me, this is the week for basking in the light of all five candles blazing: …
