The Adventurous Lectionary – The Third Sunday of Advent – December 16, 2018 Zephaniah 3:14-20 Isaiah 12:2-6 Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:7-18 This Sunday we celebrate joy. We light the third, pink Advent Candle and celebrate the joy of relationship with God, each other, and the wonder of creation. Yet, this joy must come in the waiting. The joy we seek is not born of immediate gratification, but the ongoing encounter with an intimate God who has plans for us –... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday of Advent – December 9, 2018 Malachi 3:1-4 Luke 1:68-79 Philippians 1:3-11 Luke 3:1-6 “Are we there yet?” beg the children in the midst of a long automobile trip. “How much time left?” we ask as we prepare for an important occasion. “When are things going to change?” persons living with daily injustices and indignities plead. Advent is a season that joins patience and restlessness. We are waiting and waiting isn’t easy, whether... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The First Sunday in Advent – December 2, 2018 Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-10 I Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36 How do we feel as we look toward the future? Do we see continuity or discontinuity? Do we expect gradual evolution or cataclysmic change? Is the future filled with hope and fear, or a mixture? Today’s scriptures suggest s multiplicity of possibilities, and whether the result of our own actions, divine-human companionship, or unilateral divine action, the future... Read more

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