Category Archives: holy days

Good Friday 2014

With condolences to all victims of violence and their families. Last Sunday, a short while after the Passion Gospel was ended in churches across the nation, across the world, a man took a shotgun to the parking lot of a … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, homily | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Maundy Thursday: footprints

Almost all of you have heard this poem at one time or another, or seen it printed on pretty pages in the inspirational section of the bookstore or Christian gift shop. I refer, of course, to the both famous and … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, homily, sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to read a palm

Examine the heart; is it sappy, or made of stone? Trace the veins that indicate the wisdom of Solomon, or the mercurial folly of man. Follow the lines of travel: do they cross? If the life line looks long enough, break off the branch, … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, poetry | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lenten meditation

Today’s meditation, offered as part of a multi-authored series available through the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio @ http://www.dohio.org: It is a day like no other, this Thursday in the fifth week of Lent. It isn’t one of the “big” days, … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, meditation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Ash Wednesday : heart-rending, heart-mending

“Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing,” says the prophet. Rend your hearts: “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise,” says the … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, homily, sermon | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Ash Wednesday treasures

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” says Jesus. God has invested great treasure in us, making us even out of the dust in the divine image; breathing life into our nostrils, even through God’s own … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, sermon preparation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Happy valentine

A heart labyrinth design for Valentine’s Day (I’ve also used them as prayer aids for cardiac patients and others). Although I didn’t consciously plan it that way, I like the way that the two sides can be read either as … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, image, labyrinth | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A reflection for a community celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr

Delivered at Lakeshore Christian Church, Sunday 19 January 2014 Last spring, when word got out about the women who had escaped from a cruel kidnapping, about the decade that they had spent imprisoned in an ordinary little house in an … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, homily, meditation, prayer, story | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A light reflection for Christmas Day

Why do we read John on Christmas morning, instead of one of those cute pageant stories from Matthew or Luke? It is because for John, this is Christmas: that Christ was born before the worlds began, as old as God, … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, homily | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Sermon for a Christmas Eve with pick-up pageant

This sermon was written for a Christmas Eve on which the Church of the Epiphany hosted a pick-up pageant, invited any and all children to come and pick out a costume to join in the play as they arrived in … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, homily, sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment