XX. A RABBI’S WISDOM If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when? (Rabbi Hillel) These words from Rabbi Hillel (110 BCE-10 CE) speak to the interplay of self-care and care for others. This older contemporary of Jesus, reminded us that our ability to help others depends on our personal self-affirmation. As the flight attendants say, “put on your oxygen mask first before helping... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Easter Sunday – April 12, 2020 Acts 10:34-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-18 Matthew 28:1-10 Just the other day, a fellow pastor noted, “I just can’t get into the Easter spirit this year. We’ve canceled everything public from our sunrise service to the sanctuary services and the Easter egg hunt. Online worship just doesn’t cut it for me.” I am sure that this pastor’s feelings are echoed by scores of other pastors and thousands... Read more
XIX. PRAYERS INSPIRED BY A STEEPLE “Pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) Each morning as I take my walk on the Centerville beaches, I spend a moment praying for the congregation I pastor as I gaze at the church’s steeple. I pray that we be a healing force in the community, that we reach out to the world around us, that we are safe, and in our safety that we serve others. This ritual has become central to my prayer... Read more
XVIII. HOW I GOT OVER? Over and over Over and over My soul looks back And wonders how I got over. (Gospel Hymn) My soul looks back and wonders how I got over! So goes a gospel hymn based on the experience of finding freedom from the chains that bind. Freedom from slavery and bondage. The experience of surviving a challenging situation, where hope was at risk. In a similar spirit, those of us who are sheltering in place yearn... Read more
XVII. POLLYANNA’S GLAD GAME Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (I Thessalonians 5:18). One of our fellow congregants does a daily Glad Game, adapted from the book and movie “Pollyanna.” As you might recall, the Glad Game emerged when Pollyanna, the daughter of missionaries, had expected a doll in the Christmas missionary barrel but nothing arrived except a set of crutches. Obviously, she was disappointed. But her father told... Read more
XVI. I THANK YOU GOD FOR THE WONDER OF MY BEING I praise you because I am fearfully [awesomely] and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. That I know well! (Psalm 139:14) When I was taking a course on spirituality at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation three decades ago, I learned a sung prayer, “I thank you God for the wonder of my being,” which we repeated three times at certain intervals in the class. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel... Read more
XV. I THANK YOU GOD FOR WAKING ME UP THIS MORNING Give thanks in all circumstances. (I Corinthians 5:18) In many African American churches, people preface their prayers with the affirmation, “I thank you God for waking me up this morning.” My variation on this is my affirmation of Psalm 118:24 when I awaken, “This is the day that God has made let us rejoice and be glad in it.” In both cases, we give thanks for the sheer fact... Read more
XIV. LOOKING FORWARD I have plans for you, for good and not evil, for a future and hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) This morning, as I was walking on Craigville Beach, I encountered a Barnstable Department of Public Works employee. One of the qualifications for being a pastor is being curiosity. (Not nosiness!) Having seen his truck parked in the lot for a couple days, I asked, “What are you planning to do?” “We’re going to repave the parking lot.” The Town... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Palm Sunday – April 5, 2020 Bruce G. Epperly Isaiah 50:4-92 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 Philippians 2:5-11 Matthew 21:1-11 Matthew 26:14-27:66 Holy Week is a spiritual rollercoaster. We experience joyful celebration, uncertainty and anxiety, desperation, fear, and depression. We have to walk through the valley of darkness to get to celebrate the resurrection. Our lives are also a rollercoaster. Our sanctuary will be silent, and few of us, despite presidential aspirations to reopen the USA by Easter,... Read more
XIII. THE OSPREY ARE BACK! God’s mercies are new every morning; great is God’s faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22) This morning as I was walking along Covell’s Beach, one of the usual – early morning – suspects noted from a safe physical distance, “the osprey are back!” And then added, “You may not be able to see the Osprey couple here at Covell’s but they’re here, getting their nests ready for another generation.” Oblivious to our human responses to the Coronavirus, the... Read more
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