The Adventurous Lectionary – Christ the King/Realm of Christ Sunday – November 25, 2018 2 Samuel 23:1-7 Psalm 132:1-12 Revelation 1:4b-8 John 18:33-37 Today’s scriptures invite us to consider God’s relationship to politics and culture as well as our own personal lives. If Christ is “king” or “ruler,” what does that mean in real life and every day decisions regarding our domestic lives and political policy? Does the way of Christ have sovereignty in the affairs of nations? Should we... Read more

Despite protests to the contrary, faith traditions are living entities, growing, changing, and emerging in the context of environmental and cultural changes, creative visions, mystical and prophetic experiences, and divine inspiration. Years ago, philosopher Alfred North Whitehead penned “Religion in the Making.” Today, it is appropriate to speak of “religions in the making” as the faith traditions of the world find themselves evolving synergistically with one another and their environments. Even so-called orthodoxy and the old-time religion are changing, partly... Read more

Recently, when I shared the title of my newly-published book, “Become Fire: Guideposts for Interspiritual Pilgrims,” my companion asked, “What’s an interspiritual pilgrim? I get ‘spiritual,’ but ‘interspiritual,’ that I don’t understand. How does this relate to being a pilgrim? Or a Christian?” This was a perfect opening for me to share my story and the story of millions of people who actively cultivate interspirituality or hybrid spirituality or, as others call it, multiple spiritual practices. But, instead of a... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twenty Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – November 18, 2015 I Samuel 1:4-20, Psalm 16, Hebrews 10:11-25, Mark 13:1-8 Today’s readings describe answers to prayer as well as future hope and challenge. In many ways they are challenging because they are distant from our lived experiences – strange encounters with priests, vying among wives, sacrificial high priests, and cataclysmic events. Yet, when we look more deeply, an underlying message emerges. Despite life’s difficulties and threats, God... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twenty Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – November 18, 2015 I Samuel 1:4-20, Psalm 16, Hebrews 10:11-25, Mark 13:1-8 Today’s readings describe answers to prayer as well as future hope and challenge. In many ways they are challenging because they are distant from our lived experiences – strange encounters with priests, vying among wives, sacrificial high priests, and cataclysmic events. Yet, when we look more deeply, an underlying message emerges. Despite life’s difficulties and threats, God... Read more

Today’s scriptures describe God’s faithless in times when we feel most in need, spiritually and economically. We recognize that we live in a world in which fear is used to motivate political decisions and personal priorities. We are often counseled more about threats than possibilities. We have resources all around us, and yet we are told to consider what we lack and thus to live by individualistic insecurity rather than divine abundance. The most powerful nation in the world is... Read more

It has been said that God created humankind because God loves stories. “How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere: An Anthology of Spiritual Memoirs” (Monkfish) celebrates stories that transform our lives, theologically, spiritually, ethically. The book is the affirmation of “panentheism” as a pathway to God for spiritual seekers. Briefly put, panentheism proclaims “God in all things and all things in God.” God is the spirit of life, the dynamic, creative, and intelligent energy “in whom we live and... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost – November 4, 2018 Ruth 1:1-18 (3:1-5; 4:13-17) Psalm 146 Hebrews 9:11-14 Mark 12:28-34 I believe that context is important in preaching and scripture study. We must study and preach in light of our political, social and economic context. In that regard, reading Ruth requires us to ponder the immigrant caravan, traveling from Honduras, the inflammatory and false rhetoric of politicians, and the reality of nearly seventy million refugees and displaced persons.... Read more

The Book of Ruth is more than a quaint love story. It portrays two women of agency and adventure. In fact, in these days of demonizing immigrants, attacking women who have been traumatized by male behavior, and inhospitality to diversity, Ruth may be one of the most relevant books in the Bible. Ruth is a love story, but the love portrayed in Ruth is the love of two women who need each other to survive, a romance that crosses ethnic... Read more

The bible has been described as the ultimate immigration story. The biblical story describes people constantly on the move, following God’s guidance into new and unknown lands. Jacob and his family are part of a wave of immigrants emigrating into Egypt to escape starvation. Their descendants, the Hebraic peoples, escape Egypt and migrate to Canaan, the tribal forerunners of David’s empire and eventually the nation of Israel. Borders are porous and relative in God’s eyes and God often guides people... Read more