the sparkelectricity
firing neuronscausing thought
propelling motioninto speech
open heartsopen minds with love between the same words spoken in conjunction I love you
Ash Wednesday 3/1/17 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Paradox always seems to hit in the most sacred of moments. Today, I am experiencing some serious conflict between what we have come here together to do this morning and the gospel passage for today. Ash Wednesday is best known for the imposition of ashes in the sign of the cross on our foreheads, but it is also known as a major fast day for the Church. A day where people give up food, sweets, meats, and all manner of other things in order to focus on God. Yet, in the gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus tells us very specifically not to make it known to everyone that we are fasting… which is slightly incongruous with putting ashes on our heads. Paradoxical? Maybe. Hypocritical? Maybe. The true question underneath this ironic situation is, “What is appropriate piety to practice?” This passage in Matthew is structured around the three major ways of the Jewish tradition to practice piety, to practice following their beliefs. First, alm...
4 September 2016 Proper 18C The Cost of Discipleship This one time... At church camp... The theme for the year was, "leap of faith." For some reason, a group of us got into our heads that any time the theme was mentioned, we needed to leap around. During the lessons, during the softball game, during craft time, if someone said, "leap of faith," we'd all get up and leap about. Leap! We tend to think of faith as a leap, something spontaneous in a way. Something that cannot be planned out. Faith doesn't work within an outlined list of duties or goals, or with a projection sheet. Yet, it seems like Jesus is saying today in the gospel passage, "I want you to plan, analyze, and figure out if you can be a disciple of mine." He suggests looking at the cost of being a disciple and personally seeing if you can pay. Have any of you ever done a cost benefit analysis on your faith life? I certainly haven't. It wasn't part of the toolbo...
2/8/18 Joy Joy: (talking to herself) Yes, Joy? Joy: You'll be in charge of the console, keeping Riley happy all day long. And may I add I love your dress, it's adorable. [Joy begins to happily twirl around] Joy: Oh, This ol' thing? Thank you so much, I love the way it twirls... - Disney Pixar's Inside Out Joy is deeper than happiness. Joy is a deep seated calm emotion which underlies other emotions and moods throughout the day. Its a way of living in gratitude and relationship with God. Happiness comes and goes throughout our lives, but joy endures, despite hardships. Joy is the foundation which allows people to be content, to thrive, to be pleasant even when bad things are happening in their lives. You can find the word joy over three hundred times in the English NRSV of the Bible. From the beginning to the end, joy is present throughout the scriptures. People sing with joy, people dance in joy, people enjoy the fruits of their labor, God blesses...
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