On Sunday, January 19th, 2020 What excellent passages for us on this cold Sunday morning. We are now three Sundays into the season of Epiphany. We have heard, with the help of the Wise Men, that the babe born in Bethlehem is the Messiah. Last Sunday, we heard how this one born in Bethlehem was…
On Sunday, January 12th, 2020 The first person I baptized was Adam Prouty on Easter Sunday of 1993. He was, in many ways, an average 8th grade boy. My preparation of him for baptism was enjoyable, as he was endlessly curious and enthusiastic. The church I served at that time had a baptistry that was built for full immersion baptisms. It was…
On Sunday, December 22nd, 2019 We are very close to the Nativity now. Just 2 more days. As we approach that blessed day, when we celebrate God’s best gift to the world, we feel many things. Joy. Peace. Love. Hope renewed. Delight. Maybe even surprise. Wonder. But how about speechlessness? I suggest to you that speechlessness is a very appropriate sensation at…
On Sunday, December 15th, 2019 The Autumn when Jean and I moved to Wisconsin, 1992, set records for the number of overcast days that fall. The memory is seared in my mind. From the first of October through the end of December, there were 4, four days of sunshine. This autumn, here, has not been that bad. When the sun has been…
on Sunday, December 1st, 2019 Hope. Anticipation. Expectation. These are the dispositions of Advent. And I had the pleasure of seeing these fully embodied on Thanksgiving Day as we cooked and baked all day. Our dog, Luna, was ever in the kitchen, watching us as we worked on the countertops, just waiting, hoping, anticipating every little morsel that might happen to fall…
On Sunday, November 10th, 2019 You’ve all heard the expression, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” It’s an aphorism intended to help us to remember to focus on the things that really matter. We have such an aphorism because we so often get lost in the small stuff. Sometimes I feel like there’s a mysterious force, rooted right in our DNA, that drives…
on Sunday, November 3rd, 2019 Why do we still refer to ourselves as Protestants? I have been ruminating on this question lately. It’s a question I’ve considered before, when I was a student in Chicago. By far, the majority of students with whom I studied were Roman Catholic. A handful of us belonged to other traditions. When we discussed a certain topic…
on Sunday, October 27th, 2019 Mark Twain wrote, “Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.” Some might be tempted to think that this was the Pharisee’s problem in the parable we have heard this morning. He was very responsible. He was scrupulously faithful. Yes, as he is praying to God, he does run through…
on Sunday, October 20th, 2019 I know of no one who would say that the Apostle Paul was anything other than a man of prayer. He is the one who wrote to the Thessalonians, “…pray without ceasing…for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (I Thess. 5:17&18) We usually wonder, “How in the world can someone, anyone pray…