CXI From the Depths, I Pray (7/16) Out of the depths, I cry to you, O God. (Psalm 130:1) Sometimes we find ourselves, like Jonah, in the belly of the whale. Sometimes like Dante we must confess: In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.” Denial won’t help us. Denial is destructive of trust and destroys lives in a time of pandemic. Nor will seeing... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – July 26, 2020 – Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 119:129-136 I Kings 3:5-12 Romans 8:26-39 Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 Pentecost is the season of divine revelation and profound giftedness. Spirit moves in all things, awakening us to a democracy of inspiration. God’s abundance is strewn everywhere, for all to have, in every time and place and those who are attentive to it will experience wisdom and the ability to discern their vocation in life. They will discover... Read more
CVIX Our help is in the name of God! (7/15) If it had not been the Lord who was on our side…Our help is in the name of God, who made heaven and earth (Psalm 124: 1,8) The words we use are important. We know that language can affirm or demoralize us. A child who is told she lacks intelligence or beauty can come to believe it. Using sexist and racist language can destroy a person’s spirit. In contrast, words... Read more
CVIII Living in the Uplift (7/14) “To you I lift up my eyes.” (Psalm 123) When I was a child, there was a religious program on the radio called “Look Up and Live.” These days we need perspective. Psalm 121 asserts that when we look up to the hills, we find our help in God. The Coronavirus can be all-encompassing. We build our days around it. It determines whether and if we go out shopping. It shapes our travel plans.... Read more
CV God’s Steadfast Love Endures Forever (7/11) O give thanks to God; for God is good. God’s steadfast love endures forever….With God on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me?” (Psalm 117:1, 6) The Psalmist knew plenty about struggle and threat. Yet, the Psalmist discovered God in the midst of the threat. Threats will come and go. As serious as they are – as dangerous as they are – God will outlast them. “God’s steadfast... Read more
CIV Giving Thanks (7/10) I will give thanks to God with all my heart. (Psalm 111:1; read Psalm 111 in its entirety.) We can be thankful in the midst of a pandemic. We can give thanks for the beauties of every day and kindnesses of friends and strangers. The whole universe conspires for our wellbeing and sustenance, despite pockets of chaos and disease. Life moves within us, providing the energy we need to wake and respond to each new day.... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost – July 23, 2017 Genesis 28:10-19a Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Today’s readings proclaim that he world is chock full of divinity. You can encounter the holy in the most unlikely places. Thin places, joining heaven and earth, abound for those for whom the doors of perception have opened. Life is messy, but it can be spiritually full in all its complexity when we open our senses to... Read more
CIII God’s Steadfast Love Endures Forever (7/9) Praise the Lord! Give thanks to God for God is good; for God’s steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 106; read Psalm 106:1-5) God’s steadfast love endures forever! Forever! Life is change, nations rise and fall, leaders come and go, even the Coronavirus is temporary. It will pass. But, within all things, the moral and spiritual arc of God’s presence moves, undefeated, though at times obstructed by human pretense and pride. People often say... Read more
CII Living with Integrity (7/8) I will walk with integrity in my heart. (Psalm 101:2) Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, in his embrace of the totality of his life and his hospitality toward others. He also grew in integrity and honesty. To be a person of integrity is to have an integrated life in which everything in our lives fits together. Or, as Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard asserted, “purity of heart is to will one thing.” What is the... Read more
CI Loyalty and Justice (7/7) I will sing of loyalty and justice; to you, God, will I sing. (Psalm 101:1) Loyalty to God and justice to our neighbor are profoundly connected. To be loyal to God is to love you neighbor. To be loyal to God is to love God’s world in its wondrous world. Biblical religion does not separate heaven and earth or this life and the next. Our calling is to follow God’s way, shaping our world “on... Read more
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