July 2021

I’ve been re-reading a favorite Christian writer.  She’s my go-to when I need a little infusion of spiritual oomph.  Julian lived in Norwich, England in the twelfth century, but her wisdom is unbounded by time or culture.   Here’s a little gem from Julian: Take the image of the hazel nut.  What incidents in your life today […]

Text: 2 Kings 4:42-44; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21 Telling stories is an art. Especially when it’s not exactly a new story. It’s even more challenging when your audience is all over the map in terms of interest level and capacity to listen. That was the situation every year when we took our confirmation students to Rainbow

Texts: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 I just heard a story about a kid who’s bicycling across the country raising money, which as I recall is for medical research. I happen to know the kid’s mother, and she shared this story. This boy is a pretty typical upper elementary age kid. He’s outgoing, kind,

It’s the end of the week, crabbing season has just opened and the harbor and local waters are brimming with boats.  That’s probably why I’m hearing the ferry horn so frequently of late.  Usually it’s the charming three note tune that signal a ferry entering or departing the dock. But in the last several days

Texts: Amos 7:7-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29 Everyone has an opinion on the beginning point of a disaster, and in the case of Amos the disaster of exile in Assyria began with Israel forgetting the covenant with God. Specifically, their God-given responsibility to care for the poor. And so the covenant with God was broken. God’s

Singing. Who knew that singing together would be one of the slowest things to be restored to us in the gradual lifting of protective restrictions? But here we are. Slowly working our way back into gatherings of prayer and communion (with care), and where music is also returning. Singing is important. Birds sing to communicate

Texts: Ezekiel 2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13 Once there was a family. It started out very small as families usually do. The family was very adventurous. They traveled far every year. (I wonder if you can guess how many people were in that family.) They had many places to stay. So they would go for

Summer is picnic time, and perhaps the most iconic of summer picnics is our nation’s annual birthday celebration – the fourth of July. With the lifting of all restrictions (no masks!) and the ability to gather freely, we’re really ready to picnic and party. Bring it on! Having lived in a number of places, I’ve