A Positively Poetic Priest

a mass entangled skin on skin, flesh on flesh way power and will power uniting as one one goal, one direction towards the higher good light dancing with darkness pulling the world apart putting it back together with all subsequent parts both broken and whole 5/19/17

Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP 816) Simply the word Evangelism usually leaves a dry feeling in the mouth of Episcopalians. "Go tell someone about Jesus? Isn't that for the Baptists or the Evangelicals?" Yes, it is for them to do, but it is also for us to do. Part of fulfilling our call as Christians is by sharing our stories of relationship with Jesus with other people. Jesus specifically tells his disciples to go out into the world and share, to tell other people and to have them tell other people. Jesus created not a religious institution, but a movement. Evangelism isn't about gathering more people into our church or converting people into Episcopalians, however much we might think that. Evangelism i...

Good Shepherd Sunday   I'd like to reintroduce you to someone you already know. He has a reputation for being lean, mean, and hairy, he likes to huff and puff, he likes to trick small girls, and he likes to eat. Have you guessed it yet? The Big Bad Wolf.   (okay, this one isn't so big... or bad looking...)   Starring in many Disney shorts, a musical, and some ancient fables, The Big Bad Wolf has been scaring and subverting good children for centuries. Today, we see the replay of his debut in the scriptures, in the parable of the Good Shepherd, well-beloved by many as one of the most comforting parables of all time.   In the parable, the Big Bad Wolf disrupts the quiet pastoral scene we are given of the sheep and the hired hands grazing in the fields. The Big Bad Wolf comes running in, frightening the hired hand into running away, scattering the sheep, and snatching one for his supper. It is devastati...

movement in circles you've got your hands full movement in circles empty hands waiting for food movement in circles leaving me wanting you movement in circles leaving you wanting me movement in circles the political left movement in circles becomes the political right movement in circles go fully around to find the beginning movement in circles go fully around to find the end 5/7/17

Someone on the Internet is Wrong! Almost every conceivable opinion has been voiced on the internet. The internet has become like many other things in our lives, useful for both positive and negative uses, a tool in abuse and a tool in great educational and emotional triumph. Some churches have found themselves pushing back against the idea of using social media to share the Gospel proclamation. Other churches embrace social media as a medium through which new people can be reached. After all, there aren't that many people left without some kind of social media account. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Skype, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Tumblr...   there is a social media site for everyone. Some people aren't against using social media for church business, but are definitely against using social media in church! How can the community worship while people are distracted with their phones? However, we can argue, no matter what, people are going to get distracte...

Rise my little sparrow Rise from the ashes of the grave Remember acceptance and approval Are very different beasts Rise the rain lies fallow And the ducks are splashing yet The women in their vestments Have not made us sinners Rise the constitution is waiting Rise parliament is powdered Waiting for the light Rise the giving birth is painful But the labors are not in vain Rise my little sparrow And fly in splendid glory (5/5/17)

"“The listening sessions were enlightening and challenging,” Bishop Sean Rowe of Northwestern Pennsylvania said of the gatherings held between January 31 and March 20. “There is a great deal of enthusiasm for a partnership between our two dioceses, but also some skepticism about why we should change the way we’re doing things now."" ("What's Next" from Rust Belt Episcopal ) Last month, on Monday March 19th, St. John's was host to one of the Listening Sessions for the proposed partnership between the Diocese of Western New York and the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. All told there were eight listening sessions throughout both dioceses in the last couple of months. This week, on the Rust Belt Episcopal website, an article was published about what is coming next in the process. As it stands now, the next step is for each of the Standing Committees of both dioceses to meet separately and vote on whether the process will move forward. Both votes wi...

Resurrection (4/16/17 Easter Sunday) deep inside newness deeply right familiar sense the truth all along snake skin shed for want of rarity what is living fully bodied is eternity's reality

4/6/18 Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Easter is a joyful season of resurrection and new life. However, many find new life kind of disconcerting at first. The transition into something new is not always very easy. Easter is a time of celebration, yet sometimes celebration requires being gentle and compassionate with yourself and those around you. Welcoming the happy new morning each day in the spirit of Easter does take practice... and luckily, we have a whole fifty day season of Easter to work on celebrating this Good News! Not one chance, not two chances, but fifty chances. Living into new life does not happen over night, every morning we have a new chance to celebrate the new life begun in us through Jesus Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Easter Sunday Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia! The end is just the beginning. The gospel passage we hear this morning is the end of the oldest version of the gospel of Mark.  If you happened to pull out a Bible right now, you'd probably find two other endings, passages which try to give the gospel of Mark a conclusion and add on additional stories, those two other endings have been added on through the years because people felt that this ending was somehow unsatisfactory or unfinished. It is unfinished. The end of Mark is deliberately open-ended. Obviously, the women did eventually tell their story  or else it would have never been written down. But the hearers of this story are supposed to finish the story themselves.  The end of this story, the women finding an angel in the tomb instead of Jesus is really just the beginning of a long amazing story which shares what happens after Jesus' ...