Holy Week is a lifetime in miniature. It goes from celebration to conflict, betrayal, suspense, and then back to a celebration that lasts a lifetime. As the commercial says, “life comes at you fast,” and so does Holy Week. We almost need a month to let the events of Holy Week sink in spiritually and emotionally. When everything seems to be going well in your life, out of the blue, you or a loved one receives the diagnosis of a... Read more
Lectionary Reflections for Palm Sunday April 13, 2014 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 Philippians 2:5-11 Matthew 21:1-11 This year, we’re celebrating Palm Sunday at my church, South Congregational (UCC) in Centerville, MA, on Cape Cod. No passion readings; just celebration with a hint of what is to come later in the week with the final hymn, “Were You There?” The power of celebration during Holy Week has been underestimated. We need the waving palms, the “hosanna” shouts, and the joyful crowd to... Read more
I read Alister McGrath’s If I Had Lunch with C.S. Lewis (now featured in the Patheos Book Club) in light of the current religious and cultural polarization of our time. The United Methodist Church is conducting trials to discipline pastors who perform same sex marriages. Religious leaders protest the showing of the film Noah because they believe entertainment should never veer from literalistic interpretations of scripture, even if the scriptures describe God as violent and vindictive. World Vision sets off a... Read more
A number of years ago, in the course of teaching a class in Wesley Theological Seminary’s Lay School, I discovered that virtually all my students had experience in various forms of complementary and global medicine and none of them had shared this with her or his pastor. These were not back row Christians but moderators, parish caregivers, and church school teachers. This experience inspired me to write Reiki Healing Touch and the Way of Jesus as a way of introducing... Read more
Lectionary Reflections for the Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 30, 2014 I Samuel 16:1-13 Psalm 23 Ephesians 5:8-14 John 9:1-41 Today’s scriptures speak of light and darkness, and sight and blindness. They are metaphorical in nature, and must be understood in terms of the full humanity of persons of color and sight-impaired people. Darkness is not synonymous with evil: it is also the place of growth and gestation. Too often we have universalized spiritual states to the detriment of... Read more
Steve Berger, pastor and author of the new book Between Heaven and Earth, is heaven-obsessed. In light of his own family’s tragedies and the imperfections of human life, he sees heaven as his true home and the hope of heaven shapes his every decision. For Berger, the hope of heaven gives him a larger perspective. The challenges and ambitions of this lifetime are penultimate, and pale in comparison to our heavenly destiny, yet are part of our heavenly destiny inspiring us... Read more
The church needs to be both in and of the emerging transmedia technologies, while presenting its own ancient-future-now vision. Read more
Reflections on Ronald Rolheiser’s new book Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity There are many spiritual pathways for the many seasons of our lives, for our personal contexts, gender and sexual orientation, and personality types. A personal God has a personal relationship with every creature. God’s center is everywhere and focuses on each moment of experience and each person’s life journey. Our lives are truly a holy adventure with spiritual surprises around every turn. In an... Read more
Lectionary Reflections Third Sunday in Lent March 23, 2014 Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 95 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42 (4:5-15, 27-38) We all need living waters. We need spiritual and relational resources that refresh and transform our lives. God is willing to give us what we need for spiritual transformation in challenging times; we need to open the doors to God’s care, trusting that God will supply our greatest needs. There are no absolute guarantees of external success or a cure for... Read more
The Celts were adventurers. They sailed off into unknown lands, sometimes sailing without a rudder, trusting that God would bring them to their place of resurrection, their place of wholeness and vocation. Each day was seen as adventure, filled with danger and possibility. So, Celtic travelers often drew a circle around themselves as they began each journey. The circle (or “caim”) reminded them that they were always encircled by God’s care. In the spirit of Psalm 139, they trusted that... Read more
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