A Positively Poetic Priest

let me lend a hand to shine your self-esteem there is nothing remotely as unjust than someone stealing your power to be ultimately true as yourself I know no reason for the shame fight for your daily rights inducing courage at every end for nothing can change the way you stand except your own changeable self A secret I can whisper A secret I truly know forgotten on the wings of time hidden under broken piled rocks you are loved great and lowly every surface sparkles with the light given without rest

Heather Melton (Luke 4-7) There are many ways to engage with the scriptures. We can meditate on what God is saying to the people of the time, on what God is saying to us, on the mission or story happening in the overarching story of the chapter or book, as well as many other ways. In our journey through Luke, we see the overwhelming grace of God over and over again. In Jesus' compassion for the people and his teachings, God's grace shows up as abundant, risky, and powerful. God's grace makes a huge difference in the lives of the people who meet and hear about Jesus. In this video, Heather Melton, a priest and the United Thank Offering Staff Officer, reflects on the mission of grace in Luke through the stories in chapters 4-7. I hope you'll take the three minutes to watch!

A priest friend of mine once joked around that I could write a poem about anything, including a phone book. So, I took him up on the challenge. It was written last summer and recently shared with the challenger, and deemed an acceptable completion. A 2009 Phone Book, Uncovered rows of digits only making sense with the code the names and people categorized by alphabet a distinction made up by label we have waited years for a general anethestic to kill the pain of trying to understand the differences in name, in label strung out in columns upon the page who are we and why and how the steady numbered rows lack clarity what is the code? what is the relation? to each abbreviated formation Jones, Edward Jones, Edward D&Co Jones, Elizabeth       Emmett J Jones, Florenz H       Forrest       Fred A       Fred A Jr.       Gayle & Jeffrey       ...

Its a cliche to talk about diamonds having many facets. However, what we find in the gospel stories is Jesus like a diamond. Many faceted, shining brightly, with God's flame in the center. One of the ways this is evident is to read all the different gospel stories. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all present different views on who Jesus was as a man and as the Son of God. In Matthew, Jesus is very much the Jewish Messiah. Jesus came to save the people of Israel, and was very focused on the reform of the Jewish synagogues and fulfillment of Jewish scriptures. In Mark, Jesus is the suffering servant Son of Man from Isaiah, fulfilling the scriptures, not just for the Jewish people, but also for the Gentiles. In John, Jesus is depicted much more as a divine presence in the world, very theological, very spiritual, and very in tune with the overarching story of the whole scriptures. In Luke, Jesus is deeply compassionate, focused on caring for the poor, the marginalized, the broken,...

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...

2/15/18 As many of you know by now, we are participating in a national program going on this season of Lent, which will continue into the season of Easter. The Good Book Club  is a program of reading the books of Luke and Acts all the way through during these two seasons. The easiest way to follow along with the readings everyday is to follow the Forward Day by Day, a daily reflection booklet which you can pick up at the church. Forward Day by Day also have a podcast, an app, a daily email, and daily updates on Facebook and Twitter. So no matter how you interact with the world best, you can follow the readings and reflections. At St. John's, we will be adding to the daily readings an Adult formation series which will highlight certain passages throughout the seasons and provide a place for discussion and questions about the books and the events in the books. I hope you will join us at 9 am on Sundays to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Good News. If you really want...

What strikes me from the Gospel passage today is about this notion of privacy. Perhaps this is simply because I am a millennial. For long as I have been alive, computers have been connecting together in networks. I grew up with social media. The online world where everything and anything is shared and all too often, unfortunately, people have a tendency to joke that if it isn't on social media then it really hasn't happened. The notion of privacy is a shadow of what it once was. Everything has to be known, or at least accessible, in case someone wants to know it. So the idea that I could go to church or spend money or not eat without anyone knowing is almost a novelty. However, privacy is an important aspect of true relationship. All relationships have those aspects which are shown to the public and then those aspects which are kept between each other. Couples always have private aspects to their relationship and what set of best friends do you know that ...