A Positively Poetic Priest

I have had a reputation in my life for not sleeping. As a small child, I didn't sleep through the night and frequently kept my parents awake. As a kid at camp, not being a good sleeper, everyone thought that I just didn't sleep. Even through college and seminary, my friends joked that I must not be human because they had never seen me sleep. I have a hard time sleeping through noise, and people make a lot of noise. My husband continues this line of joking still today though he has managed to catch me asleep, though not often, because he falls asleep faster than I do and he can sleep through almost anything. In the Gospel passage this morning, we hear another parable from Jesus. And this one leaves us with a lot more questions instead of answers. In the stories and teachings before this parable in the arc of story from Matthew Jesus is on this theme of staying awake. Of course, we get to the parable of the bridesmaids and see all of them promptly fall asleep. Thankfully, I don...

"Pay attention!" I don't know how many times my mother yelled that at us as children. Jesus never yelled at his disciples to pay attention, but he did tell them to listen fairly often. Almost every prophet, spiritual teacher, or religious leader has at some point told their students and followers to pay attention in some way. We humans are a distractible bunch. We make fun of dogs for their distractibility, but we humans get distracted very easily as well.  (All that nonsense about goldfish memories and attention spans is just nonsense. Attention span is very determined by the task and our emotional involvement in it.) However, the point about paying attention, being mindful, to what is going on around us is really important. Not only does it help us survive on a daily basis, it can also teach us new ways we can help our environments. When we are paying attention, we are more likely to see problems as they arise, see cause and effect situations we take part in, and change...

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 How can we possibly follow Paul's suggestion to pray without ceasing? Typically there are only two things we human beings do without ceasing, our hearts keep pumping blood and our lungs keep breathing air. Early in Christian history followers of Jesus put together this injunction to pray without ceasing with the unceasing nature of breathing and started the tradition of Breath Prayer. Very similar to some eastern breathing prayers and exercises, Breath Prayer focuses on your own breathing. To practice Breath Prayer, choose a quiet spot to sit or kneel comfortably and a phrase to repeat. Many people use the Jesus Prayer while practicing Breath Prayer, although there are many other good phrases or prayers that could be used. A good prayer for Breath Prayer is made up of two parts, one to be said while breathing in, and ...

we are as intricate and as simple as the Celtic knotted cross on the wall we are as normal as the daily habits of brushing teeth and flushing toilets we are passing away each day never to be returned and never to be seen again almost forgotten in the sands of time as someone in the normal rush of life for there is nothing that cannot be forgotten and there is nothing that should be forgotten every joy, every sorrow, every mishap and quirk is the artistry of a world more diverse than one can ever imagine we live in houses we cannot explain yet we take it all for granted granite counter tops quarried from who knows where in this world built of stone which has lived for ages in the depths of vast material countless rows of atoms compressed and polished and gleamed into a surface barely noticed on the way through the kitchen hoping for a snack this is the world at your finger tips woven into the lives of those you have not met daily striving same as you to be loved...