I’ve been married for twenty-five years and I’ve never figured out how. I don’t mean that I don’t know what I’m doing, though that may also may be true. I mean I have never really tried to figure out how one is to be married – and certainly not married well. I suppose this is how we all do it. …
The Slippery Slope of Expansive Love
Much is lost to pre-history, but it seems that the story of marriage begins in property and power. This may seem a cynical and pessimistic view; it takes no account of the love that we share with our partners. But we must be careful not to read our ideas of love and family onto the past. Though the biological phenomena …
What is Love?
We are told in 1 John 4:16 that “God is love.” It seems a simple and, by now, obvious thing to say, but what does it really mean? It turns out that most of what we think it means has been determined by straight, white men, which means that our understanding of love and all its related fields – sex, …
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 …
Love in a Time of Need
I’ve been pushing “weak theology” recently. I’m not sure there’s a better example of it than the Christmas story. According to “strong theology,” God is this perfect, non-contingent being. That is, God relies on nothing, needs nothing. And yet, the story that Christians tell about God coming into the world has God showing up as a helpless little baby, the …
Love and Justice (and Babies!)
It has been a hectic week with a surprise trip to Las Vegas to help take care of my new niece and nephew while their mother (my sister-in-law) recovers in the hospital after a rough delivery. She is improving and the kids are sure to be the smartest, kindest, beautifulest people the world has ever known. I’m back in town …
Love and Light
We will have two services Sunday. Plus a post-evening-service feast. Plus getting the building ready. Plus the holidays. Plus a surprise appearance by my dog jumping through yet another window. It’s a busy time. I don’t know if I will get it all done or how it will all turn out. Advent is a time of waiting, a time of …
The Best Defense is Love
Christianity has always been a defensive faith, even from birth. Our lectionary texts this week bear witness to this. In Acts 17.22-31, we find Paul in Athens making an argument. He is trying to convince the Athenians that they had been worshiping his God all along and that, if they did not soon recognize, they would be condemned. In 1 …
Specific, Indiscriminate Love (Genny’s Farewell)
We are packing up. I’m pretending that we aren’t really leaving, or that this will all be a fantastic adventure, or that this week is just a really fun one in which I get to go to lots of parties and see lots of friends (and since I’m pretty introverted, this is some exhausting fun, though so worth it). In …
Looking for Love
What happens when life doesn’t sync up with the seasons? When our world seems filled with joyful laughter and shiny things, and we just don’t feel shiny? Is it possible that the holy can be found both within the holiday mirth, and also within struggle? We are nearing the final week of Advent. Advent is a season of longing, of …