I loved my previous life, I loved my previous life. I had so many things going… I actually, this is more work than my previous life. I thought it would be easier. Incomplete sentences and 2nd grade vocabulary aside, this was yesterday’s not-so-shocking statement from President Man-Child about how very hard it is to be him. I say not-so-shocking, because his narcissism and complete willingness to be obtuse about his own privilege is something we’ve seen before. So of course... Read more
Guest Post: Richard Baier “Praying is something we do in our time. The answers come in God’s time.” For the unenlightened, the above quote is from the movie Rudy, a 1993 classic about a young man determined to fulfill a dream and become a member of the Notre Dame football team. It’s the guy equivilent of a chick flick. Rudy has failed multiple times to earn admission to Notre Dame. This is his last chance. Father Cavanaugh finds Rudy in church praying for... Read more
I was writing my weekly note to the congregation (a few days late, because I took Monday off and it’s all downhill from there). Usually in this note, I share a few words about the message for Sunday so that we can all be reflecting on the same topic throughout the week. It makes the sermon more of an ongoing conversation. I sometimes discuss something that’s going on in the life of the church, as well. But this week, it was more... Read more
And Jesus gathered his disciples, those he loved best. A fresh loaf of bread on the table between them, like a thousand times before. He broke it and said everything is about to change, so I’m going to give you something. This bread–this is the bread of life. A living sacrifice of simple grace. As often as you are hungry, remember me. Remember my words as the thing that gives you life; remember my compassion, walk in the ways of... Read more
For the love, America. Can we not keep it together for A MINUTE? Me and my people have stuff to do this week. I’ll be quick. When Sean Spicer said, out loud and on real tv, that Hitler never used chemical weapons, that was bad. Deplorable. Inexcusably ignorant, tone-deaf, and revealing the depths of this administration’s ignorance in regards to history. And diplomacy. And the history of diplomacy. He was wrong, and he apologized. Which is, whatever, I guess better... Read more
There’s this story we clergy tell religiously around this time every year. Not the thing about the Last Supper. Not the cross, and the empty tomb. I mean, those are good too, but we have this other one that is really our favorite. It’s this story about how BUSY we are; how long the list of details, how impossible the expectations, and how exhausted we are just thinking about it. Stop me if you’ve heard it. Where did we learn... Read more
Just to recap… The current administration put a ban on Syrian refugees (among others) entering our country. Because they “might” be dangerous extremists; they “might” have ulterior motives, like recruiting innocent American teenagers as terrorists, and infiltrating our government; they “might” just be jealous of our amazing American lifestyle; probably some of them just want cable. Opportunistic scapegoating, every bit of it. Trump and his minions know, and have always known, exactly how to manipulate the deepest fears of a... Read more
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this... Read more
This just in: men cannot be trusted with women. This is not fake news, or snarky commentary from Slate or Salon. I’m not pulling from liberal alarmist news sites, or feminist click bait. It came from their king, their poster guy, the bro of bros. Yes, Mike Pence himself announced that men cannot be trusted alone with women. In a Washington Post feature this week, the VP revealed that Karen Pence serves as his “gut check, and shield…” and that he makes... Read more
Guest post: Rev. Elizabeth Grasham I won’t bury the lede: I vehemently oppose President Trump’s “America First” budget for innumerable reasons. But one of the big reasons I oppose it is because he’s threatening Sesame Street. Before my divorce was final, I took my son to see his incarcerated father on a once-a-month schedule. Our visits were always the same: the car would be searched at the entrance gate, we would take a Ziploc bag of quarters, my keys and... Read more
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