A Positively Poetic Priest

pray for peace in the midst of conflict pray for clarity in the midst of chaos pray for charity in the midst of consumerism pray for kindness in the midst of terrorism pray Sweet Jesus when we cannot pray O Holy Spirit when we forget pray Creating Father through to our bones 5/30/17

"Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns." Exodus 20:8-10 The fourth commandment reminds us to rest. Rest!? You might think? Who has time to rest? In the American culture at this time, rest is not a priority. Rest is for the weak. And we are all the strong who can keep going forever! I hope you realize I'm being facetious. Rest is extremely important to our health and happiness as human beings. God created us to need and desire rest, in multiple ways. Not only do we require physical rest in sleep, but we also require mental and emotional rest in order to stay healthy. Many people experience stress and burn out because they do not allow themselves to rest enough. Being well rested allows us to work in our strengths and ...

Trinity Sunday tends to be a day for an opaque sermon. I acknowledge and claim that.  However, I have no plans on trying and failing to explain the Trinity to you today. God is one in three and I believe that. And many of you have sat through many confusing sermons on the subject. So today I am going to speak about a different confusing topic just to mix it up a little. I'm going to talk about the passage from Isaiah today and our struggle as sinners AND beloved children of God to speak out against evil in this world. This passage from Isaiah  is usually known as Isaiah's call story, though it is not the first passage from the book of Isaiah. However, what is actually happening in this passage is Isaiah getting spiritually ready to get involved in and fight the spiritual forces of wickedness  going on in the world around him. See, at the time Isaiah had this experience of God, the Northern Kingdom of Israel  and the So...

How can I praise your stability in the midst of high anxiety when the only truth to frame is that you won't leave me alone when despite my repeated warnings of stormy seas and high winds you row out determined to keep the world together when the only care despite the lashing rain of tears is that we remain forever stubborn as a rock they say stubborn as a rock I grin the grey cliff withstands the stormy sea until it falls into its arms (5/26/17)

Spiritual disciplines? What are those? A good question for anyone in the Christian faith and life. Many people, when they take a moment to think of spiritual disciples, think of things like prayer, bible reading or study, and going to church. While those are good spiritual disciplines, those are not the only ones out there. Far from it! In seminary one of my professors gave me a book which outlines 62 different spiritual disciplines: their practices, their functions, and their strengths and weaknesses. Sixty two different practices! That is a lot of different ways to connect to God! "Spiritual practices don't give us "spiritual brownie points" or help us "work the system" for a passing grade from God. They simply put us in a place where we can begin to notice God and respond to his word to us." (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook p. 19) Spiritual practices help us connect our desire for God in our lives with the work that God is doing in our lives...

I want you to take a look at your hand.  Right or left, it doesn't matter. Every day our hands do impressive amounts of work. They influence our experience of the world. Look at your fingers. You probably don't think about them often. They are very similar in nature to each other, yet each is different.  Each is unique from the others. Even our fingers have diversity! Each of our fingers have different purposes and gifts.  The fact that our thumbs are at an angle and move slightly differently than the other fingers... opposable thumbs!  What a gift our thumbs are in our daily lives! (Especially when you consider animals without opposable thumbs, we have all seen those internet memes.) We may look at our hands and think they are all the same.  In fact, we have diversity right in our hands. The word diversity really means a range of different things. Not that it has a range of different meanings, it quite literally means,...

we are sounds without words haunting melody it curls around the mind changing mood, imagination what I know as home became deeper sunk in memories subconscious amniotic fluid the voiceless cry of a lone viola stringing through the wind my heart provides accompaniment beneath (3/7/17)

"O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." (BCP 227) Pentecost was a huge change in the life of the community of Jesus followers. The Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and changed everything. It opened up the way of Jesus to new people, through the disciples being able to speak new languages. It opened up questions about the place of the Holy Spirit in people's lives with sweeping changes in how the community of Jesus followers saw themselves. It lead the disciples into truths they had never faced before. I love how the prayer for Pentecost above asks that we can rejoice in the 'holy comfort' of the Holy Spirit. Most times when pe...

There is a phrase in the global church community which can be said in many different ways. Almost like the southern, "Bless your heart" which can be everything from a prayer to a derogatory comment, the phrase, "I'll pray for you" can be used in both good and bad ways. Sometimes it is said in a way that is demeaning, or makes you wonder if that person will actually pray for you. However, it can also provide great comfort, allowing people to know that they are not alone and that someone else cares about them and loves them enough to pray for them. Prayer for another is a powerful tool in the Christian community tool box. Prayer for another is an action of the love of God in us. Naturally, when we talk about prayer, we have to recognize that there are different types of prayer. We pray for ourselves, we pray in order to communicate with God, and have God communicate with us, we pray for others specifically in intercessory pra...

stated simply a turn of phrase an old cliche for those who care with conscious bare apologizing for others' sins daunting to change ignorant to mend a peace offering when all you have in exchange is vulnerability making its way from eyes to eyes (5/28/17)

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’" (Revelation 21:1-4) In the book of Revelation, John shares what he sees in a vision for the coming of the kingdom of heaven. The full vision of what he sets out is at times terrifying and at times comforting. In chapter 21, the coming of the holy city of Jerusalem shares the comforting image of God coming to make his permanent home among humanity, and there will be no more death or pain or crying. Un...

Have you ever known a person who was so staunch in their position about something that only an act of God would make them change their mind, and perhaps not even that? Change, especially change of the heart, is not easy. For example,  The position of the early church was that: The Holy Spirit is at work in those who are baptized. And the understanding was that the Holy Spirit was ONLY at work in those who are baptized. (Unfortunately, though this position has changed,  many people still believe this way.) People who were baptized and went to church were the special ones. The one who knew God and could interact with God. No one else could get near God, no one else was working with the Holy Spirit. If you wanted to access God, you had to go find God in a church. Many changes have happened throughout the centuries the world of the first century church was extremely different than the world of the twenty first century church yet...

the wires above us connecting caring flung carelessly into the sky disgracing heaven from pole to pole in the maze that signifies relationship causation and effect forgotten out of sight what is the most efficient labyrinth of wire of energy connecting love and light drawn on insufficient funds but tying us together 5/23/17

But wait! Its not Stewardship season yet! Why are you talking about Stewardship now? Yes, typically the Stewardship season is in the fall in the church, but really, Stewardship is a year long process of discernment and giving. The call to good stewardship asks much deeper questions than how much money we are giving to the church. The call to good stewardship also encompasses how we are using our time, our talents, and all our resources, not just our money, in the service of God. Discernment in stewardship is asking these questions, are we using all our resources to their full ability in the work of God? Are we giving our time or our energy in the place where it is used in the best way? Do we have gifts we aren't using which can be shared to fulfill a need in our community? Good stewardship practices work all through the year. Different seasons have different needs and require different resources. While we are putting together our Stewardship Committee for this   year's...

I can't wait for the summer fruit to arrive. Rich juicy strawberries perfectly crunchy grapes with cool refreshing insides peaches with tangy sweet juice running down my fingers tomatoes redder than the new fire hydrants blueberries to stain my fingers ripe wild raspberries Today Jesus gives us a parable with very summery imagery. We aren't quite there yet, and with the snow flakes of this morning, we have to continue waiting, patiently and impatiently. This morning's imagery gives us a view into how Jesus sees our relationship to God. God is the vine-grower,  Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. We are called to bear fruit, through the help of Jesus and God. Jesus intends us to see ourselves as part of this metaphor, to see ourselves as part of the process of the kingdom of God. We are the branches, reaching out into the world, bearing good fruit for God and spreading the bountiful gifts that God gives through the fruits th...