A Positively Poetic Priest

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Second Sunday after the Epiphany BCP 215) "If one has courage, nothing can dim the light which shines from within." - Dr. Maya Angelou. We all know that in darkness, even a dim light can shine brightly. Every time the stars come out and create shadows on the ground, I am reminded how strong light can be in the darkness. In our strange and difficult days, even the smallest of our courageous actions shines light into the world. The world needs every one of our small courageous actions. Earlier this week, Bishop Sean shared a letter (you can find it on our Facebook page) from a group of Episcopal Bishops callin...

In the gospel passage from Luke today, we hear that  Jesus takes some time to pray.  He does this frequently in the gospel stories. Going off to spend some time reconnecting to the divine. This is not the first time Jesus has gone off to pray  nor will it be the last time and the disciples are starting to realize something special is going on.   The Jewish tradition had ways of praying...  prayers for certain times and certain activities. And however much Jesus was completing these,  he takes more time to go and pray. So much so the disciples want to be a part of it. We think we should know how to pray as Christians and we feel lots of things when we recognize that we don't. Guilt, shame, blame. As if we are supposed to know exactly how to do something  even if we are not taught how to do it! The liturgy tries to help us learn to pray. We pray in many different ways during the service and that is supposed...

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...