Category Archives: sermon

Ashes and coaldust

Of all the symbols that we use in the Christian year, the ashes of Ash Wednesday might be at once the most unambiguous and the most strange. A wise colleague was recently heard to remark on the popularity of “ashes-to-go” … Continue reading

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Transfiguration: no shades of gray, only glory

“For the glory of God is a living human; and the life of a person consists in beholding God. For if the manifestation of God which is made by means of the creation, affords life to all living in the … Continue reading

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Transfiguration

thunderous light falling crushing sight and sound, revealing in the core of being darkness split by the silver of a sharp-edged mirror sliver, cracked images dancing; resplendent shards

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Year B Epiphany 5: by all means

It is the second to last week of Sundays after Epiphany, and in the sermon series that we’ve been following, it is time for the fourth promise of our Baptismal Covenant: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, … Continue reading

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Year B Epiphany 4: love and knowledge

Despite the density of so much of his writing, Paul does have his poetic moments. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up,” he proclaims to the Corinthians. In the intricacy of the argument about idols and eating, it would be … Continue reading

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Year B Epiphany 3: repent and return

When I was a child, I was one of those daydreamers who could get lost in a world of my own. If I were reading a book, I might surface from it to find my mother standing in front of … Continue reading

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For tomorrow’s sermon: a little story about repentance

Once upon a time, I was a little girl, and that little girl had the attention span of a sphinx. I would get seriously, eternally lost in books, daydreams, and the stories and songs which soundtracked my inner mind. Fire, … Continue reading

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Year B Epiphany 2: “the breaking of bread and in the prayers”

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve talked some about our Baptismal covenant, and as Epiphany continues, I want to dig a little deeper into those promises that we have made, and remade, and renewed. The first seems ideal for … Continue reading

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The Baptism of Our Lord: profession and practice

Let this be quite clear to us: the killing of innocents anywhere is not a religious act, not by the definition shared by Christians, Muslims, Jews; not by anyone who understands religion as the pursuit of God, the seeking out … Continue reading

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Hearing Voices

“And it was,” he said, “as though the heavens opened, I swear to God; the clouds at that very moment split apart like the Red Sea rising, and the sun striking through, fell warm and heavy on my back; no, … Continue reading

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