Messages

Last Saturday, the question inspiring my sermon study was this:With the big day of resurrection behind us, how do we keep noticing the patterns of birth and resurrection enough to participate in the New Creation? The scripture I intended to answer that question with was this:So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not […]

Holy Days exist as placeholders for intentional spiritual reflection and religious remembering. While they may not always be experienced as such, holy days are days set aside to become curious again, to ask questions again, to feel a sense of aliveness again. These days are opportunities to affirm, deepen and maybe even ditch some of […]

Inspired by verses from John 14: 1-4; 5-14John 14: 1-4 (NRSV)“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I […]

How many folks do you figure drive up and down Powhaton Road on a regular basis, especially in the winter, thinking that they are driving across a barren wasteland if they think about the terrain they are passing at all. Or perhaps if they think of the landscape, they firmly believe its only value comes […]

Inspired by verses from Psalm 22For the past several weeks we have been focusing on the Psalms in worship. I find the Psalms welcoming terrain because relating to them doesn’t require fully understanding their context. Psalms are less about intellectual mastery and much more about emotional solidarity.  In their most basic reading, the Psalms exist as blueprints […]

I’ve continued to ponder this idea of resilience. The next teacher to emerge is Pronghorn, who has an immense track record of resilience over many millions of winters. This species who looks for all the world like it belongs on the African savannah is, in fact, most closely related to Giraffes and goes back at […]

It is Valentine’s Day as I pull this lesson together. And it is from Iowa, the land of my home prairie that I write. I’ve come back to help out as my dad tries to rally from a bad health setback that started around Thanksgiving. So my thoughts are of the heart—Dad’s and mine—on this […]

I’m driving back to Colorado from two weeks in Iowa with my dad. His life energy is fading. What is emerging for him is surrender. Not something he’s ever been good at or fond of. What’s emerging for me is a deepened appreciation of who my dad is and who he has been, to me […]

Knowing where to begin can be tricky. Let me start by saying that 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 can be a bit of a troublemaker. Not on its own. On its own, I am sure it would be fine. The trouble comes when it gets mixed up with a contemporary human interpretation. A seemingly innocent scripture pressured into having […]

Inspired by Psalm 139:1-6Psalm 139: 1-6 is one of the first scriptures I have read as being complete without explanation. To add anything risks ruining something perfectly simple, something succinctly pure. Psalm 139:1-6 is a passage waiting for us, tucked in, and cozied up deep into the psalms. A sleeping giant offering a literary blanket […]