You forgot to start with three deep breaths. Breathe. In. Out. Yah. Weh. In – You’re probably going to have to poop. I wonder what sound the timer on my watch will make. I’ve never used it before. Probably not as nice as the harp thing on the iPhone. Breathe. In. Out. Yah. Weh. Lisa’s probably going to interrupt you. …
Love and Death
I’m trying to blog every day during Lent, but have already failed. So, here’s my micro-homily from Ash Wednesday instead: Ash Wednesday is, at a very basic level, the acknowledgement of our own mortality. Usually, this service is about the purgation of sin in preparation for death. But this year, we have the rare blessing that it falls on Valentine’s …
A Lenten Gift: Millstones!
I was busy all day yesterday preparing for Ash Wednesday, so I hadn’t seen the news. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent by acknowledging our own mortality and inviting us to into a 40-day journey of reflection and repentance. At the end, Jesus will die. We will call it Good Friday, so it will appear to be a celebration …
Transfigured, Not Transfixed
Over the last five weeks, we have had conversations about our values as a church and how those values are expressions of the Gospel. That conversation actually began way back in October at our church retreat. We asked folks to write something they value about this church on a sticky note and add it to our board. Then we grouped …
The Revolution of Repentance
Our reading from Martin Luther King on Sunday was an excerpt from a speech he gave at Riverside Church in Harlem on April 4, 1967. It was a speech about the Vietnam War, but, as he often does, he connected his opposition to the war to a broader moral context. He called not only for an end to the war, …
Easy Like Sunday Morning
The last few Sundays, we have started on time. I’m not sure if I’m bragging about that or not. Our stated start time is 11:15, but in the past few years we have slid back to 11:30 or so. We used to say 11 sharp, but when we said that, people showed up at 11 and wanted to chat and …
Creativity. Or maybe not.
Here’s what they won’t tell you about creativity: sometimes it doesn’t work out. I wrote all afternoon yesterday and then realized I hated it. I don’t have the same standards for a blog post that I might for an essay or a sermon; I generally just keep pulling a thread to see where it goes. Yesterday, it went nowhere. Scripture …
Sacred Space
I went to a training session on pastoral care for reproductive health and justice issues and it was auspicious that they worked to create what they called “brave space” because it was what I had planned to talk about on Sunday. It was good to see it in action, to see how it is created. Brave space is sort of …
All Are Welcome
Way back in October, we did a church planning retreat. One of the things we did was check in on our values. Many of the faces have changed at Church in the Cliff over the last few years, so I wanted to make sure we were on the same page in what we care about before we started planning where …
Have a Grateful New Year!
I used to be pretty compulsive about New Year’s resolutions. However, after years of failing, I found myself this year unsure of what to do. I could just change the date on last year’s and call it a day. Instead, I started thinking about why I failed and why it mattered. Fortunately, there are so many articles at this time …