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Insight
Part of me wishes that Jesus hadn’t opened the eyes of the man born blind. Because this “healing” feeds i to the assumption that having eyesight is better than not having eyesight. Many folks in the disability community would say that actually, the problem or the deficit is not with the person who is blind […]
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At the Well
I want to talk with the kids for a second about making friends. Is anyone here really good at making friends? What helps you do that? Our bible story today is about Jesus making a friend. I brought a bucket of water to help tell the story. Before people had sinks they could turn on […]
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Blowing in the Wind: Reflections on John 3:1-17
Have you ever had to ask a really vulnerable question? When you didn’t know the answer to something, but felt like somehow you should? In 2006, I was working for an inpatient substance abuse program. My coworkers were a group of seasoned nurses who had been in this field for a long time. That year, […]
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Celebration of the life of Betty Clark
Grace and peace be with you all. Friends, what a privilege it is to be here today with you—Betty’s family and beloved community. With grief and gratitude, we remember Betty—her warm smile, her listening way, her quick wit, that sparkle of mischief that was so often in her eyes, her deep care for people and community, her […]
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Making Space
In his book, Sabbath, Wayne Muller describes how a rare infection suddenly interrupted his hectic, exhausting pace of life as a therapist, minister, writer, and consultant. Muller remembers: Because a team of dedicated doctors and nurses skillfully treated my pneumonia—and through an intricate web of blessing and grace—I survived this most intimate conversation with my mortality. Still, […]
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Welcoming Metaphorphasis
I was astonished to learn recently that there are butterflies here with us through the winter. While many butterflies do migrate to warmer places, some instead enter a season of dormancy. Here in Minnesota, that’s 9 species, to be exact. Given that there are 172 different kinds of butterflies that inhabit our state at some […]
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Law of Love
To begin today’s sermon, I’d like to talk with the kids. Let’s think together about Jesus. Jesus is lots of different things—a healer, a friend, someone who fed the hungry and spoke up for justice, and Jesus is a teacher. In the Bible, people called him “rabbi,” which is the Jewish name for teacher. Do […]
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Who Is Jesus for You?
“The Question: Who is Jesus for you? My answer: Jesus Is Muddle-headed.” Now, before you email Pacific School of Religion to recall my Master of Divinity diploma, let me explain why those words are complimentary and not heretical. Return with me, briefly, to 1968 when I was a graduate student in Psychology at the University of […]
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God’s Heart
Today, we will take time to tell the story of our ministry with the residents of Lexington Commons. Our purpose today is to remember the warmth of sharing meals, the joy of conversation, and the gift of lasting friendships. We are also here to mark the ending of an era, with sadness, and with thanksgiving […]
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Emergence
I have always loved fantasy and science fiction writing. Growing up, I devoured books by authors like Madeline L’Engle, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Isaac Asimov. And yet it wasn’t until a few months ago that I picked up Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. I had vaguely heard of Butler, a Black science fiction writer, […]
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Putting Love First
“You are beloved.” Someone I know always signs their emails with that phrase. Not “thanks” or “talk to you soon” but “you are beloved.” And first, the practice struck me as kind of cheesy and inauthentic. This person didn’t really know me. Why did he feel the need to tell me this? The more I’ve thought about this habit, though, the […]
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Star Dust We Are
My brother John is always working on a project. Recently he finished building a sauna, a gorgeous little structure incorporating recycled materials, solar lights, and a wood stove. I was very excited to try the sauna out when we visited them at Thanksgiving time. After we heated up, we cooled off by going outside in […]
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New Year’s Reflection
Here we are on the threshold of a new year. Today we can look both backward and forward. We can ponder what has been and contemplate what is to come. And perhaps today’s story can serve as a sort of portal as we reflect. So here is a bit of context to guide us. Next […]
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Making Room
Recently, we got together for dinner with Holly, her husband and their little one, who’s just over a year old. As we lingered at the table over the remains of stew and salad, Holly, and our eldest child, Nyix, reminisced about the time Holly spent as our Sunday babysitter—how tiny Nyix was when Holly first […]
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Unto Us a Child Is Born
The child shall be a sign for you. Unto us a child is born, unto you a son is given. During this last week I read a story in the newspaper about how children are being brought into the world in Kiev and elsewhere in Ukraine, in the midst of that terrible conflict with an […]
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Rest and Repent
My brother said, “Go up Cutting Hill Lane. It climbs steeply then turns and cuts across Pinnacle Hill.You’ll come out at Highbridge Road. Take a right on Highbridge, go a short distance, and take a left on Hardscrabble Lane. If you go far enough on Hardscrabble it will turn into a hiking path that takes you to Trout […]
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To Rest in God
There’s a statue in the North Garden of the United Nations Building in New York City of a man beating a sword into a plowshare. The man is muscular; he has set his feet in stride and raised his hammer high. It is no small thing to convert a tool of war into a tool […]
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Sharing Faith
Sometime last spring, at a faith formation team meeting, we ran into a little snag. It was hard to get clear about what our team’s job was, what we were supposed to be doing. And we realized that was because we weren’t sure what “faith formation” is. And actually, as we kept on talking, it […]
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Words and Wisdom
I want to begin today by talking with our kids for a moment. In today’s Bible story, Jesus asks his followers to “testify”—that’s a word that means to say what is true. There are times when it’s hard to tell the truth, aren’t there? My daughter Alice told me a really good story about that this week. Some […]
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Gift Economy
In a recent essay, indigenous author, and scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer writes: Gratitude is so much more than a polite “thank you.” It is the thread that connects us in a deep relationship, simultaneously physical and spiritual, as our bodies are fed and spirits nourished by the sense of belonging, which is the most vital […]