Living a Holy Lent: Spiritual Counsel for Pastors Ash Wednesday is on the horizon. The Season of Lent is upon us. In less than two days, we will gather to place ashes on congregants’ foreheads and embark on the Lenten journey. Lent, Holy Week, Advent, and Christmas are the most challenging seasons of the Christian year for spiritual leaders. During Lent, pastors usually have at least one more service or program each week and often spend extra time visiting shut-ins... Read more
Embracing the Tragic Beauty of Ash Wednesday: A Meditation on Beauty, Suffering, and Mortality, and the Wonder of Life Ash Wednesday is an opportunity to reflect on the tragic beauty of life. The philosopher Afred North Whitehead asserts that: “At the heart of the nature of things, there are always the dream of youth and the harvest of tragedy. The Adventure of the Universe starts with the dream and reaps tragic Beauty. This is the secret of the union of... Read more
Lectionary Reflections for Ash Wednesday March 5, 2025 Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Can we remember Ash Wednesday without guilt? Can Lent be an embodied, rather than ascetic season? Is it possible to focus on transformation and creativity – the simplicity of spirit – that awakens us to quotidian resurrections throughout the Lenten and Easter Season? Ash Wednesday calls us to self-examination. Out of self-examination, embracing the wholeness of our lives, we take the first steps toward... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The First Sunday in Lent – March 9, 2025 Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13 Today’s readings speak of divine deliverance amid the personal and political challenges of life. As I write this morning, the USA is in turmoil. Democracy is in disarray. The nation is sliding into chaos, led by leaders who have lost their reason and any sense of civility. The readings assert that God is on our side, and when... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Transfiguration of Jesus – March 2, 2025 Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99 2 Corinthians 3:14-4:2 Luke 9:28-43a On Transfiguration Sunday, we journey into the mystic. We journey in the transcendent incarnate in the world of time and space. Alfred North Whitehead asserts that the world lives by the incarnation of God, and if that is so, we can apprehend something of God in every person and situation. Still, some moments may be particularly transcendent to the divine:... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany – February 23, 2025 Genesis 45:3-11, 15; Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40; I Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50; Luke 6:27-38 Good Theology as an Antidote to Bad Leadership Good theology is important in times of crisis and chaos. For example, African America mystic and preacher, Howard Thurman connects bad behavior – in his case, Jim Crow and racism – with the worship of bad gods. We become like the gods we worship is... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany – February 16, 2025 Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1; I Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 6:17-26 Today’s readings are about relationships, finite and infinite. There is a Gentle Providence, quietly arcing through our lives, reminding us that we are all in this together. We are the beneficiaries of gifts we did not earn and in response our lives are our gifts to the future. We are finite, connected to the Infinite, and in this... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany – February 9. 2025 Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 138, I Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11 Mysticism Inspires Mission Get ready for a wild ride! Strap on your seat belts and put on your helmet! We’re entering the amazing realm described by the Twilight Zone, Narnia, the Lord of the Rings Hogwarts, Marvel, and the Matrix, an enchanted world, wild and wonderful, where mysticism and miracle, signs and wonders, where God shows up... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany – February 2, 2025 Jeremiah 1:4-10 Psalm 71:1-6 I Corinthians 13:1-13 Luke 4:21-30 A Gold Mine for Preachers Today’s readings present numerous and almost overwhelming possibilities for the adventurous preacher. These readings are a goldmine for theological reflection and practical application, not to mention the possibilities to reflect on mysticism, spiritual practice, and politics. They would be fitting even for an Inauguration Prayer Service, speaking truth to power. We have... Read more
The Third Sunday after the Epiphany – January 26, 2025 Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Psalm 19 I Corinthians 12:12b-31 Luke 4:14-21 Epiphany is the season of divine inspiration – in scripture, in the praises of the heavens and the non-human world, in our unique and diverse personal gifts, in the laws of the universe and the inner law of our hearts, and in the life of the church as Christ’s body, and in the prophetic call to healing. Epiphany stretches... Read more
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