Weddings are not for the faint of heart. If you were to gather a group of pastors, organists, and wedding coordinators, you would be entertained for hours by stories of weddings gone wrong, stories that often include last minute sewing, fainting, and possibly throwing up. Everyone is on high alert at weddings – the people … read
This is a sermon about love. There’s a danger here, of course. What else is there to say about love? There are countless songs, movies, and books on the topic. It’s easy for talk about love to get overly sentimental and cliché or overly clinical and removed from experience. I don’t know if what I’ll … read
Have you ever wondered about the power of naming? How does it shape our identity and future? There are some funny (true) names that have left me wondering. When I was in high school, there was my dermatologist: Dr. Rashleigh. I wondered, did he go into dermatology because of his name? And there was the … read
What is our prayer for this new year? Right off the bat, I can think of about a hundred things I would like God to take care of this year. The coronavirus, obviously. Climate change. Poverty. Cancer, Alzheimer’s, ALS. Gerrymandering that benefits whatever political party. Depression and anxiety. Catalytic converter theft. I could go on, … read
Christmas Eve Meditation Wondrous things happen at night, according to these beloved Christmas stories. Wondrous things happen when most people are asleep, when the livestock has bedded down, when the stars come out. I imagine that one can see the luminosity of the angels more easily at night, if indeed they shine as artists across … read
For many of us, there is something about these very familiar people in our Bible stories that is absolutely confounding. Take the apostle Paul, whom I would like to meet when and if I go to Heaven, and argue with, because – for me – he has written both some of the most beautiful and … read