First, I want to apologize for not writing anything last week. I’m sure everyone was on pins and needles. No, really, I did want to write every day during Lent, so I’m a little behind. The website crashed last week, so my time was spent getting it back instead of adding content to it. It was an inopportune time to …
The Demons That Visit Me: Adventures in Centering Prayer
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. …
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 …
How is Lent Going?
We often treat Lent like New Year’s: a set of resolutions that will make us better people in the end, the people that we always wanted to be. We start a new diet or give up desserts or determine to pray more. These become chores that drag us down in our already busy schedules. By this, the Third Sunday of …
Ripped from the Headlines
The lectionary passage this week, Luke 13:1-9, begins with two cryptic news headlines. The first, an apparent murder of Galileans worshiping in the Jerusalem Temple by Roman occupiers. The second, a tragic accident that claimed the lives of eighteen people. The question, then, is a question that we have run into a lot in Luke. Perhaps that is because it …
The Mountain Top and the Ever After
We have two stories from Luke this week: the Transfiguration and Jesus’ Lament for Jerusalem. The Catholic Lectionary in the Second Sunday of Lent always has the story of the Transfiguration. This year is Luke’s year, so we get 9:29-36. Jesus takes Peter and James and John to a mountain top to pray. The disciples just had a lot of …
When Demons Attack
I struggle with sin. Not so much the doing of it, though I do my fair share, but the naming of it. I struggle with how to talk about sin or think about sin. Like many of us, I grew up in a church that used guilt and shame to win conversions. And, after the conversion, the guilt and shame …
Call for Artists and Poets – DART Stations 2011
DART Stations of the Cross 2011 A letter from Scott Shirley and a call for writes, poets, artists, and whosoever feels called to participate in crafting an experience of the Stations of the Cross on the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit). Follow the link to learn more http://ht.ly/4hOce.