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Category Archives: sermon preparation
Walking on water
Heartracing like the tideebbing and flowing withoutvolition, permissionbattering this vesselbattered by the moonand its phasesfading Do not be afraidof ghostsconjured of foamand fearsome prayer on the cusp of translation Takea stepmy handmy life and let it betake heartthe storm by … Continue reading
Mustard seed
Split it with thumbnail or teeth, feel its tiny fire upon the tongue, a supernova soon consumed; or let it swell from within, fed by filtered light and living water, until it bursts open and eager, expanding like a universe … Continue reading
Together
Together we grow side by side rise and fall together who can tell us apart but God? Together in awful glory we will shine together with all the fire of the sun _______________________ Year A Proper 11: the parable of … Continue reading
Confessions of a crow
Dear One, do I perceive that you have told this parable against me? Have I stolen the seeds of contentment from those with whom I am on the way, the path that you have laid out in crazy paving, gravel, and grass, where joy should be … Continue reading
Rest
Did you recall, as you were falling into the earth, into the abyss of memory, before the ground dented the palms of your hands before their time; did you recall, as the once-living wood pierced your side with bitter splinters, … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged cross, Matthew 11:25-30, Matthew 11:28-30, year a proper 9
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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
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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One or the other
One says, Might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb; another, Thou shalt not covet the livestock. One says, Give as good as you get; another, Do not repay evil for evil, but overcome evil with good. … Continue reading
Many dwelling places
There was a hill covered in cloud that resisted the imprecations of the wind that tossed the crows about and hurried us to shelter beneath a bare crag, eroded by the dwelling of the centuries, bodies it had harbored, of … Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged John 14:1-14, many mansions, Year A Easter 5
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Unhinged
I am a gate, I swing this way and that, inviting you to step into my dance, leading with the song you have heard before: creak and sigh of hungry humanity herded like sheep by fear and faith by turns. … Continue reading
over the water 