A Positively Poetic Priest

What is your story? A story is a seed. Shared, it is planted. Shared again, it is watered. Shared even more, it starts to grow. Mark's gospel is one where the stories come fast and furious. You only get the most important information from Mark. As the earliest of the gospels written, it can be seen as the bare bones story which then Matthew and Luke elaborate on and include other traditions and stories into. In the gospel passage for today,  we see what a difference Jesus makes in the synagogue in Capernaum by sharing his story. "They were astounded at his teaching,  for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." I want you to think about this for a moment. Jesus goes into a Jewish synagogue reads from some portion of the Hebrew Scriptures, the grand story about God and the people, and talks about it as one having authority, talks about it as if it was his story. Because, let's face it, ...

Joy: Fear! I need a list of all the possible negative outcomes on the first day at a new school. Fear: Way ahead of you there. Does anyone know how to spell "meteor?" - Disney Pixar's Inside Out We all know what it is to be afraid. We are afraid of bad things happening to ourselves and our family. We are afraid for the state of our community or town or country. We all have our own personal fears as well, a fear of spiders or bats or running out of food. We learn to live with our fears, learn to cope with them in different ways, which allow us to continue to be a part of our lives without having to be locked in a safe padded room all the time. Fear is a basic survival instinct. Fear has saved us many times in our lives from getting into situations where we know destructive things could happen. Fear is not always a bad thing. Knowing what we are afraid of and why allows us to take precautions in order to be safe. It also allows us to understand how past trauma...

"Can I say that curse word now?" - Anger, Disney Pixar's Inside Out The biblical examples of anger, wrath, and ire are awe inspiring. The sheer volume of fire, famine, earth-shaking, and tempest that is attributed to God's anger is impressive. It's no wonder people are afraid of God, the ancient writers attributed a lot of disasters to God punishing the people. I say attributed, because many times God speaks anger and disappointment, but then forgives the people and does not punish the people. Many times also in the biblical stories, the real reasons for the disasters which came upon the Israelite people were from other people, who did not follow the ways of God. Anger is one of the strongest human emotions. It is an acceptable emotion, as long as it is people are still accountable and use their anger energy in good directed ways. We all sometimes feel the need to release our anger in inappropriate ways, yet, anger is an emotion which can tell us necessa...

Shhh.... What do you hear? (Silence) (Silence) (Silence) Have you ever heard of the musical piece, Four Thirty Three by John Cage? It is a contemporary piece, known to call into question the very nature of music. It also, interestingly enough, calls into question the very nature of silence. Because the piece, Four Thirty Three (4'33") can be given by any musician at any time. All the performer has to do is prepare, and wait in silence for four minutes and thirty three seconds. Cage, the composer wanted to bring the audience's attention to the ambient noise being made throughout a performance the wind people whispering movement of clothing He wanted to think about what makes intentional music different than the music we hear all around us all day every day. The brain is always processing sound waves around us turning noise into recognizable voices. Hearing is easy. Our brains do it for us. A...

"Do you ever look at someone and wonder, what is going on inside their head?" - Joy, Disney Pixar's "Inside Out" One of the things I wonder the most about is what is going on inside other people's minds. I find my own mind fascinating and I imagine that what goes on in other people's minds is fascinating too. As I have grown older, I have learned so much about what goes on in my mind and how it impacts what I do, who I am, and how I respond in certain circumstances. I am surprised how often I have epiphanies about my own emotions which lead to better understanding of other people's actions. The season after Epiphany is a time of learning new things. The lectionary takes us through stories of the disciples having epiphanies about who Jesus is and why he does what he does. Some of this learning takes place in seeing something new of Jesus, some of it takes place through examining their own understandings of themselves and Jesus. Through the...

Happy Feast of the Epiphany! Otherwise known as  the Feast of the Three Old Wise Guys... You know, John Wayne, Quentin Tarantino, and Clint Eastwood Oh! wait, not those wise guys! While we have no idea if the magi who showed up to honor Jesus as a little child were men, or wise, or kings, or other political or religious officials or even if there were three of them, Traditionally, the Magi are  Casper from Arabia,  Melchior from Persia,  and  Balthazar  from India. And of course, we don't know how the three of them ended up together, or at least, showing up in Bethlehem around the same time. Yet, we celebrate this story of Epiphany because it is the first  in a long, long, series of stories about people recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior. And it has such valuable political ramifications that it has been used in situations  over and over again as a story of the subversion of...

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (The Feast of the Epiphany, BCP 214) Come and celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany with us this Sunday. During the formation hour (9:00 am), we are going to be putting on a pageant for anyone and everyone to participate in and enjoy. Hear and see a story about the Three Magi, or Wise Men, who journey far to see the Son of God as a baby. Help put together House Blessing Bags for everyone to take home and bless their houses. Taste the deliciousness of King Cake and perhaps find a special treat! I hope you'll join us in celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany. Seeing Jesus can be very hard through all the difficulties, troubles, and hatred in this world, yet, Jesus is with us. Re...

Children's Sermon To start the sermon this evening, I'd like to have all the children, and children at heart, join me at the front of the church.  Good evening. Are you all excited about Christmas Eve? (Yes!) Do you know the story for tonight? A long time ago, there was a little boy who was born who was named Jesus.  Jesus was God's Son. And when he was born, Angels from heaven told a bunch of sheep and shepherds that he had been born  and to go visit Jesus and then to tell everyone else. See angels are messengers and their job is to bring people good news So I need your help tonight. Have you seen the Creche over there? It is a picture of the story I just told you. It has Jesus as a baby, and his mother and Joseph and angels... but it doesn't have all the sheep. I brought a whole flock of sheep with me tonight to be part of the story,  but they scattered all over the church!  See they have been here before...