Dear Friends, Labor Day weekend is before us. This federal holiday, instituted in 1894 honors the achievements of the American worker. This is the day of picnics, get-aways, and cookouts. The 19th century saw agricultural work give way to industrialized work. Regularly, 12 hours/day and seven-days a week, the poor and new immigrants worked to […]

August 24, 2022“[J]ust then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, […]

“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land… (Hebrews 11:29)” Whatif Last night, while I lay thinking here,some Whatifs crawled inside my earand pranced and partied all night longand sang their same old Whatif song:Whatif I’m dumb in school?Whatif they’ve closed the swimming pool?Whatif I get beat up?Whatif […]

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1).” Dear Friends, This is one of my favorite lines of scripture. God who created and sustains us, the Holy One who called all Creation “good,” made and continues to cultivate a good world. It is hard to see that good […]

“Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good, and the Lord’s mercy endures for ever (Psalm 107:1).” Dear Friends, The opening verse of this week’s psalm suggests that gratitude is really the only response to God’s inherent goodness and mercy which is unending.  The past few weeks I have had the blessing of […]

“…whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:207-28).. Dear Friends, Monday this week, most of […]

Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home (Luke 10:38). Dear Friends, Here, at the end of Chapter 10 in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus enters a village and approaches a home. This chapter begins with Jesus sending out seventy (or seventy-two) in pairs, with no purse, no bag, no […]

Wanting to justify himself, the Lawyer asked Jesus… (Luke 10:29) Dear Friends, From Sunday’s reading in Luke’s Gospel, I found myself pondering justification. I was not concerned with Priests, Levites, or even Samaritans (good or otherwise).  My mind did not turn to the poor man in the ditch half-dead, or of the robbers who jumped […]

Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever. (Psalm 30:13) Dear Friends, We are sliding down the backside of Hump Day. Thinking about this last line in this pslam of praise from Sunday, I thought of a poem by Mary Oliver and invite you to […]

Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; I have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord, my good above all other.” (Psalm 16:1) Dear Friends, Generally, we Episcopalians do not spend a lot of time with the psalms, this beautiful and lyrical collection of poetry.  In his book, Praying the Psalms, […]