Month: June 2016

The Rock Tumbler Church

As we head into another transition in our church I am wondering about what it means to be a church family. I know from my own, limited experience of family that when we gather we wear our interests, capacities, talents, and resume like wearing clothes - look, he is a...

retreats and airport towers

It is time to start planning my annual retreat and I can feel my own resistance.  I want to play, not pray.  I want Vegas, not a Zen retreat in Crestone, Colorado.  I want country fried steak, not a vegetable medley on brown rice.  I want summer movies, not scripture....

I am the WITH-God of Orlando

The WITH-God of Orlando (An excerpt modified from a sermon preached at Saint John’s Cathedral for the Wilderness Eucharist, July 26, 2016) We see You in the glittering, clean candles of our altars. We see You in the rainbows, and the puppies. We see You in the Thanksgiving dinners and...

a church encased in plastic

I love this image of Jesus.  I took the photo last… I don’t know when … while up in the attic of the National Cathedral in Washington DC.  It was in storage there, in a dusty corner next to some old boxes, perhaps filled with His saints.  The sculpture is...

What would the church look like?

Luke 7 What happened between you two? What conversation did you have which led to this act of intimacy? This was not your first encounter. Only deep gratitude would lead you to this kind of connection. You two have talked before. They are all glaring at you, you know. They...

grounded in gratitude – a Eucharist

It is summertime and schedules are relaxing in the inhale, exhale, inhale way our American year works.  For many there is no relaxation at all - single mothers with low-paying jobs are working and sleeping - “the working poor” we call them. They are caught in a terrible system of...

Beer and Baptism

Last night we made beer.  I joined two parishioners, Bridget and David, to discuss parish life.  We needed to discuss an upcoming baptism.  We needed to discuss spiritual life and prayer.  We needed to discuss a gift they wanted to make to the Saint Francis Apartments for the formerly homeless....

The Daily Sip will return next week

Due to a demanding schedule of teaching over these next three days, the daily sip will resume next week.  Thank you for your patience. May I suggest that you use time normally used for the Daily Sip for silent, wordless meditation.  Sit with a candle, back forward slightly, chin up,...

sky, light and clouds

Today is Pat’s last day in the office.  And last night he and Jack and I went out for dinner under this sky. It was a night full of laughter, gust busting laughter, and stories about life and cities and meetings and favorite things and even goodbyes. Queen Elizabeth once...

inside painting

This is a two-inch tall Chinese bottle from the early 1800’s and is decorated with what is called “inside painting.”  An artist paints such a bottle on the inside of the glass, backwards, beginning from what would normally be the final strokes on a painting, and working backwards to what...