YALE UNIVERSITY | RACISM | WHITE SUPREMACY Good Shepards, Hired Hands, Flocks, and Wolves…¹ We think of ourselves as part of a flock… what if we are the wolves though? | Photo by Ron Steed Saturday a week ago, eight of us from St Andrew’s went on a pilgrimage to Yale University, to explore the Yale & Slavery Research Project. This project, begun in 2020, just finished in February. It examines the role that Yale University played, in slavery, and after the Civil War in ways that continued to hold Black and Brown people at a distance, and resisted enfolding them into the university. There ..read more

CHAOS | WATERS | NEW CREATION Sermon: Out of the Waters of Chaos… St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Madison, CT ¹. Taken from Mark 1:14–20 ² Out of the waters of chaos, new creation comes | Photo by Ron Steed I wonder… Peter, Andrew, James, and John live as fishermen, and Jesus calls them into something new. I wonder if there is more going on in this simple story than just one of encounter and call. And whether there is more going on today as well. In Mark’s Gospel, this story is the first call of disciples by Jesus after his Baptism. To understand what might be going on at the shore of Galilee ..read more

ADVENT | BEING WITH | NAZARETH Sermon: Being With- The Way of the Lord St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Madison, CT ¹. Taken from John 1:6–8, 19–28 ² Advent… a time of waiting for things to hatch | Photo by Ron Steed I’m not any of those! In today’s gospel, John the Baptist describes himself, frustratingly to the priests and levites sent from Jerusalem, as "none of the ones you are expecting. I am not the Messiah, I am not Elijah, and I am not the prophet." I think I should clarify why they ask John about three people like that. The Messiah, we’ve talked about a lot, and while there was not con ..read more

ACHE | LONGING | HOPE | OPEN-HEARTS | LOVE | JOY The Beech Trees are Dying St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Madison, CT ¹. Taken from Matthew 23:34-46 ² Beech trees overhead, looking a little thin in Fall | Photo by Ron Steed The Beech trees are dying. The Beech trees are dying, and that breaks my heart. All of them have a disease that causes their leaves to fall off. I first noticed it three years ago in the forest where I walk. While the oaks and the maples were leafing out, the beeches were bare or thinly leafed, and its been that way for three years running. This tree is a staple of the C ..read more

GOD BREAKING IN | DAY LABOR | VINEYARDS Sermon: When God’s Good Road Winds its Way… St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Madison, CT ¹. Taken from Matthew 20:1–16 ² What happens when God breaks out in a vineyard? | Photo by Ronald Steed in Montepulciano , Tuscany Come Holy Spirit, and halo-our-heads with the FIRE of your love! What Happens? I wonder what it is like when the Kingdom of God (or as Native American’s put it, "God’s Good Road") breaks into the world? What changes? What doesn’t? Does everything change all at once, or are there small, but important incremental changes that happen? Does i ..read more

Who do YOU say that Jesus is? Sermon: A Longing and an Ache St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Madison, CT ¹. Taken from Exodus 1:8–2:10 (NRSV) & Matthew 16:13–20 (NRSV)² A baby found among the reeds sets things in motion | Photo by Ron Steed in Bar Harbor, ME Powerful Women The People of Israel, enslaved in Egypt, had a longing and an ache… a longing to be saved from slavery and an ache to be their own people. This morning’s story from Exodus¹ about the rescue of Moses from the Nile river seems like one that could be heard on the news today. It’s about a powerful national leader who is thre ..read more

GOOD & EVIL | REDEMPTION | GOD’S GOOD ROAD St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Madison, CT ¹. Taken from Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43 (NRSV) ² Summer Fields full of Rye Grasses | Photo by Ronald Steed at the CT Audubon Center, Pomfret CT. Before you sit down, I want you to keep standing and take a moment to look around this space… turn to look at your neighbors behind you and across the aisle. Just look and take an inventory of who’s here. Can you tell which of these people are good and which are evil? Can you tell the wheat from the weeds? … Darnel & Wheat There are a few things that might be ..read more

MISSION | MAASAI | VINCENT DONOVAN Sermon: The Lion is God St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Madison, CT ¹. Taken from readings for Proper 6 ² "His nose and eyes and ears pick up the prey. His legs give him the speed to catch it…" | Photo by Ron Steed in Florence Italy I’ve been reading a remarkable book lately by Vincent Donovan³ called "Christianity Rediscovered". In it, Vincent, who is a catholic priest, tells of his mission to the Maasai people in Tanzania in the 1960s. The Maasai were famously impervious to Christianity to the point that many believed that it was impossible to convert them ..read more

Ascension | Salvation | Julian of Norwich Sermon: We are SO Saved St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Madison, CT ¹. Taken from Acts 1:6–14 ² Sometimes we are left looking at the clouds | Photo by Ron Steed Something left undone? As Christ is about to depart the Earth, the work here being complete, his gathered disciples have one final question; "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" Now this might seem like a little question, but it’s not… a LOT hangs on the answer. It’s actually a question that is rich in meaning and emotion, and it gives us a little insight into t ..read more

Haiku | Watercolor | Friday December 16 2022 Advent Word: Traveller traveller pathway - lingering vulnerably in heartful places #traveller #AdventWord Watercolor painting at Chateau Orquevaux, France by artist Roxanne Steed | Photo by Roxanne Steed Photo of the painting site at Barn Island Wildlife Management Area | Photo by Ron Steed, Watercolor painting by artist Roxanne Steed ..read more