A Positively Poetic Priest

 Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Third Sunday in Lent BCP 218) “It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters One of the many facets of Lent is looking at our own temptations. The areas of life we know we could do better in, and regularly don't. Not that we couldn't, we can, but we l...

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Second Sunday in Lent BCP 218) "Oh good Lord, have mercy!"  Perhaps from my time living in the south, this prayer-exclamation, said in a thousand of different ways has become part of my normal commentary on life these days. Over and over again, "Oh good Lord, have mercy," seems to fit the bill for how I feel about... well... everything.  The situation in Texas. Oh good Lord, have mercy. The continuation of the pandemic. Oh good Lord, have mercy. The death of a beloved community member. Oh good Lord, have mercy. My husband leaving his trash on the counter. Oh good Lord, have mercy.  There is so much outside of our control these days and ...

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (First Sunday in Lent BCP 218) Coming into this year's Lent, I think we are all a little bit more aware of our own temptations and weaknesses. We know how much we long, desire, need to have certain small things in our lives that we have been trying to do without for quite a while. I am reminded of a web comic I saw (https://xkcd.com/2419/) which has a graph of hug counts by year. The alt-text reads "I've never been that big of a hug person, but it turns out I'm not quite this small of a hug person either." Meaning, even the author of the comic, a nerdy physicist, has recognized his need for more hugs after this past year...

How far can you journey at the moment? With everything on lock-down, we may be talking your biggest journey today is the one from the bed to the couch. Or perhaps you have gotten out for a drive or a walk in the fresh air.  I've been trying to get outside for a run, walk, or bike ride everyday, which is easier some days than others.  Lent can be a hard time and sometimes we forget we are on a journey especially since  most of us aren't journeying anywhere right now. We are staying at home. But even at home, we are on a journey. In my house, I sometimes forget where things are because it so big, and when I walk into the rooms I don't use very often,  its a whole journey of rediscovery! I find things I forgot I had. But even at home, we are on a journey. The season of Lent is always a journey. A journey through repentance, confession, reconciliation, renewal. A journey with God of self-discovery through our Lenten ...

I started this year's season of Lent on Ash Wednesday in my sermon  talking about the wisdom in a cup of tea,  or rather, the wisdom in an empty cup of tea.  Since Ash Wednesday,  when I had a cold, until today,  I pretty much have had a cup of tea everyday.  Throat Coat, ginger tea, peppermint tea, I'm an herbal tea girl, I cannot have caffeine. My cold has gotten better, but there is something comforting in having a cup of coffee or tea.  And right now, we all need a little extra comfort in our lives. For some reason,  I always seem to have a different favorite mug for a season and use it everyday for that season, and then move on to another mug.  This spring is this lime green one I picked up for free at a thrift store.  Do you have a mug or cup of something with you this morning?  Is it empty? Full? Somewhere in between? If I were to imagine my mug's life it would look like this:  one of...

When I was at Clergy Conference this past week, Archdeacon Gail Winslow was talking about a week-long fast he did years ago with Father Adam Trambley. I have read about people doing week long fasts, typically with week long silent retreats, it seems like a bit crazy.  To not eat or talk for a whole week? One on its own seems bad enough. But Archdeacon Gail said that it wasn't too bad, eventually your body moves past the hunger pains and into detoxification mode. The problem then, he said, is that you stink. All the gunk your body has stored up inside of you gets thrown out and he said he felt like he needed to shower every couple of hours. I myself have never fasted that long. I did the 30-hour famine as a teenager. One year for Lent, I fasted on Wednesday and Fridays. But the idea of a week long fast and cleaning out the body is interesting. We do tend to store up, both inside of us and around us, junk we think we need or wish we could us...

"The wisdom in a teacup abounds,  all you have to do is hold each cup with mindfulness." I read this saying in a British novel once, and it comes back to me occasionally. It reminds me of those Zen master stories where someone comes seeking wisdom from a Zen master and starts rattling on about everything they have tried or learned  and what troubles they are seeing in the world, all while the master pours tea. As they ramble on, the master continues pouring tea,  overflowing the cup and letting it go on the ground. Obviously the point is sometimes we are too full  to be able to be filled with wisdom. I thought of this again when I was reading through the lessons for today. In Paul's second letter to the Corinthians he writes, ( 2 Cor. 6:10 NRSV) "We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;  as unknown, and yet are well known;  as dying, and see-- we are alive;  as punished, and yet not killed;  as ...

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Fourth Sunday in Lent BCP 219) As human beings, we have been making bread for tens of thousands of years. Even before the agricultural revolution, hunter gatherers were gathering grains and roots and mashing them up and cooking them for bread. Bread quite literally is the stuff of life for humans, as throughout most of our history, we have relied most heavily on bread, in all its varieties, to sustain us. It was natural and easy therefore for Jesus to use the metaphor for bread in describing himself as that which gives life to the world. In Hebrew the word for bread and the word for food are the same word! Even today, bread is still the staple food for most people in the world today. (Only here in America is o...

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Third Sunday in Lent BCP 218) Giving up our lives is a hard thing to do. Christianity asks us to give up our lives in service to Christ and in letting go of our egos through Christ. The world lures us in all sorts of ways to hold on desperately to our lives, as if we had the power to save ourselves. We don't. We know it when we are being honest with ourselves. But lets face it, its really easy not to be honest with ourselves. One of the best ways we can practice giving up ourselves is by the spiritual practices we do on our own and in community. Spiritual practices of prayer, giving, fa...

I cannot imagine the state of being  Jesus is in  during his time in the wilderness. I myself know what it has been like during wilderness times in my own life times of struggle, confusion, and tension. The wilderness always involves emotional and spiritual tension. Jesus goes from being a carpenter in a small town in Galilee, working with his earthly father, Joseph maybe with brothers learning the trade of repair and creating out of wood A good business keeping him busy And then he takes a small journey down to the Jordan River. He meets his cousin John again and asks him to baptize him. As he is coming up, he hears this voice A voice different than any other voice which speaks to him and names him and claims him "You are my son." Naturally,  I always sort of picture this happening as it does in The Lion King... the rolling thunder, the voice coming out of the cloud Simba, you are my son. His naming and claiming also come...