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Category Archives: lectionary reflection
Welcome
Welcome is costly. God is a gracious and abundant giver – but God also asks of us our love, our devotion, our service to one another and the creation which God made us to tend. Sometimes, sure, it seems as though God is asking a lot. Ask Abraham. … Continue reading
Abraham also laughed
A poem-sermon for Friday in the first week of the 2023 Chautauqua season at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. The readings include Genesis 17:1,9-10,15-22 Abraham also laughed, in the face of God, no less, and lived – more than … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon
Tagged Abraham, covenant, friendship, Genesis 17, God laughed
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A new creation
You know the saying, that the leopard cannot change his spots. A thistle cannot become a fig tree. But there is one, there is one who can make all things new. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged covenant, Genesis 15:1-18, Matthew 7:15-20, new creation
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Let go to let love grow
A sermon for Tuesday in the first week of the 2023 Chautauqua season. The first reading is Lot’s separation from Abram in Genesis 13. __________________ After all those years in the bosom of his grandfather and uncle, I cannot imagine … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged Abraham, Abram, Chautauqua, family, Genesis 13:2-18, golden rule, Karol Jackowski, Lot
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Judge not?
There is but one judge whose acumen is trustworthy and true. Fortunately, God is infamous for steadfast forbearance, slow to anger, and abiding in great mercy. Continue reading
Posted in homily, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Beth Kissileff, judge not, Matthew 7:1-5, Stephen holmgren, Tree of Life
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… But do not be afraid
A sermon for the first week of the Chautauqua Institution season, 2023, Year A Proper 7 _____________ There’s nothing like starting in the middle. With no context, no backstory to soften the blow, we arrive for a week at Chautauqua … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged family, family divisions, Jesus, Matthew 10:23-39, sparrow, Year A Proper 7
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When the cat preached the sermon
The cat wanted to add a word on behalf of the wolf. She said:
“Once, in my ancestral imagination, I was a lioness, fierce and feared. I still sometimes examine my claws in awe at what havoc they might wreak. I look at my sister’s teeth and recognize the fangs of an ancient nature. Yet here we lie, content to be coddled and cuddled by a softer species. Even if I caught the cardinal, I wouldn’t know quite what to do with him. I am not sorry, but while I am still shaped like a predator, I have become quite domesticated, tamed by love. You see, a leopard cannot change his spots, and a wolf will always have a complicated relationship with the sheep, but love changes everything. Love feeds the birds and saves me from my worst impulses towards them. Love sets a table before me in the midst of many distractions and attractions, and bids me eat.” Continue reading
Sheep
Can a sheep teach a wolf to eat grass? To enjoy the tender snap of clover stalk, the flake of its flower upon the red and eager tongue? What does the wolf know or love of green pastures, still less … Continue reading
Radical
Yesterday morning, when the sun rose, this was a shotgun barrel, designed for hunting, for ending life. By lunchtime, it had become a garden tool, forged in fire and hammered out by my talented husband, designed to dig into the earth that God has made, out of which God formed the plants and the trees, out of which God crafted humanity, and breathed into it the spark of life. Radical transformation: a tool designed to kill had been converted into a tool to grow new life. Continue reading
Mercy
Learn what this means, he says: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. But mercy, pitiless in its command, requires the sacrifice of satisfaction, Schadenfreude, vengeance. Righteous indignation; the bitter little consolations that coddle a sore, soured, soul. It makes one wonder, honestly, if he truly, truly understands the meaning of either Word. … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged Hosea 6:6, Jesus, Matthew 9:9-13, mercy, sacrifice, Year A Proper 5
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over the water 