Month: November 2013

thistles

The thistle is one of my favorite flowers.  Its cup of green surmounted by its crown of purple is architecturally interesting.  It is not classically beautiful like the rose or the lily.  Its does not have the fragrance nor the softness of either.  The thistle is covered with small thorns...

Thanksgiving Day

  Wandering from a the churchyard of a medieval church on land which had once been the summer residence of the Bishop of London, this door opens from one garden to the next; onto the back garden of a rectory on the edge of London.  It is tended by a...

Som Tam Thanksgiving Prayer

When I was living in the mountains of northern Thailand, the days were long and hot.  The elephants had to be found (they wander at times) led to take their bath, run in their training and then ridden to the rivers, washed again and set to jungle pasture for the...

the stewardship of our death

The planned giving committee met today.  It set me thinking a bit about death. This image from a church tomb reminded me of my own resistance to the conversation around death. Including the church in my will or estate plan means doing something which means facing my death.  And of...

Savior and savor

Bread. I had a dinner party last night with friends.  The house was full of warmth and laughter while we ate simple dishes, one course at a time, and one dish at a time. We began with steamed asparagus in a brown butter with almonds, then a course of avocado...

the fire of rest

Today is my sabbath day.  Waking up to it is like waking up on Christmas morning as a child.  For a moment there is a lack of recognition.  Thoughts stream without the editing of a brain which has fully woken up and become hyper-vigilent of its surroundings. "Where am I?...

How a nave was supposed to be used.

  For so many centuries, cathedrals were built with many purposes.  Designed to be without chairs, the floors had grand designs in them and the space was open, so that the floor could host so many different events.  People stood for worship...and survived the standing. The cathedral was, and always...

the stewardship of our love

These emblems are stitched along the top of the Saint John's banner in the cathedral nave near the pulpit.  I wonder at the wonderful women who must have labored over their beauty. They run across the top of the banner and each one represents one of the gospel writers. When...

the stewardship of our reflection

The phoenix is a mythical bird which seems to emerge from within many religious and spiritual traditions.  Its adoption by early Christianity came as a result of the mythology around its rebirth. Tradition had it from its Greek origins that the purple-blue-red bird would die, decompose and then regenerate.  In...

walking sacraments

  Anything can be an icon.  The church loves to have all sorts of rules about what is and is not, what qualifies and what does not, what is holy and what is not and what is sinful and what is not.  My favorite is the set of rules about...