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A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing
https://bookstore.upperroom.org/Products/1921/a-family-like-mine.aspxWhom Shall I Fear: Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence
https://www.amazon.com/Whom-Shall-Fear-Questions-Christians/dp/0835819671-
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Tag Archives: family
On grief
And so he died, and all at once I understood more of grief than I had before. It beckoned from beyond the door of the tomb. In its mosaic floor I saw mourning not for what was lost only but for what never was,and … Continue reading
Advent IV: Impossible love
The angel didn’t need to oversell the child, the mundanity of human love, which is become the love of God made manifest, evidence that God loves us despite the risk, despite our sin, despite our pain, because God delights in us, because God is love. Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, homily, sermon
Tagged family, grief, Incarnation, love of God, Luke 1:26-38, year b advent 4
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Words that do not pass away
I do not remember well my mother’s voice any more; the soprano on the cd is younger than I knew her. What I carry buried deep within my skull are nursery rhymes and nonsense that emerge like sea mammals, occasionally, … Continue reading
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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… 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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All in the family way
It seems as though the depth and strength and sheer closeness of God’s love for us defies any single image of relationship that we can dredge up and dress in poetic language. God is our father and our mother and our lover.
And then, and then, God became flesh, and dwelt among us. Continue reading
Love will tear us apart
The divisions that Jesus describes are growing pains, signs of the emergence of the kingdom of God. Discipleship stretches our souls to love more deeply, to forgive more recklessly. Discipleship should change us, stretch us, and there will be friction as we rub up against the tolerance of the structures that have formed us. These are the signs of the kingdom, Jesus tells us, so do not be afraid. God is willing and waiting to restore all things in God’s mercy, risking everything alongside you on the Cross, transforming its hard lines into new life through the Resurrection. Continue reading
Feline mortal
till holding himself somewhat apart, as though some part of him were ready, already, for the next mile of his journey, perhaps he remembered that love is the greater part of life, that relationship is a surer path to wisdom even than philosophy. Continue reading
Love/hate/relationship
“Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen,” warns the letter writer, and if we are in any way human, our heart sinks. We know whereof we are guilty. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon, sermon preparation
Tagged 1 John 4, abide, family, hate, James Cone, John 15:1-8, love, Year B Easter 5
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Blessed saints
This is the life which God has created especially for us, so that we might become fully human, creatures made in the image of our Creator, learning to reflect and resemble the divine. It is in this life that we are commanded to see one another through the lens of God’s compassion, justice, and love, to the very best of our ability. Continue reading
Posted in holy days, sermon
Tagged All Saints, beatitudes, comfort, evangelism, family, grief
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over the water 