December 15, 2023 ‘So, just risk everything with no guarantees as to the outcome-that’s what sacrifice is.’  While taking trips down the celluloid memory lane during the recent SAG strike, I stumbled on Suits, and the above quote stopped me dead in my tracks.  I will leave it to you to watch the show for context, but wow, what a quote!  Sort of a “Wish I had had a V-8” for those who remember those ancient commercials. Sacrifice: risking everything with no guarantee as to the outcome. I think the same insight can be made of our faith.  Faith in our God – Creator, Redeemer, S ..read more

October 22, 2023 Recently I have listened to more than one conversation regarding ‘why we believe in Jesus.’ The conversations oddly don’t center around the truth of the resurrection nor the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. Rather these conversations concern the behavior that will keep us out of hell. The conversations explored the teachings that if we don’t behave a certain way we are going straight to hell.  The individuals spoke of being scared into heaven as a means of avoiding hell. Interesting, but a very unfortunate response to God’s loving actions through Christ for us.&nb ..read more

July 14, 2023 Yesterday, as I was out biking, I approached ‘something’ in the middle of the hot asphalt path.   As I got closer, I noticed that ‘something’ was a person, seated on the path, leaning against a shopping cart.   The person appeared to be an elderly Muslim man in traditional attire so I knew that, for an old woman in biking shorts to approach him, would probably not be the best plan; it would be disrespectful of his cultural norms.   So, I rode around him, hoping a male biker would stop and render aid.   Still, I thought about the man and dec ..read more

April 30, 2023 Have you ever come across troubling passages in the gospels that you either choose to ignore or make excuses for what happens in the account?   Particularly if the thing that troubles you is something about Jesus; something that shows Him as less than tranquil, less than divine, less than perfect; something that, at first look, shows Him to be nothing other than human.   I believe these troubling passages are incredibly instructive, if we take the time to sit with them until we are able to get past our first reactions, beyond our discomfort and ask the questi ..read more

April 9, 2023 Oh to breathe again!  After all the heavy self-reflection of Lent, the somber spiritual grieving of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, the silence of the sealed tomb of Holy Saturday, we have a definite need to breathe!   Those last words Jesus uttered from the cross on Friday can put us in a place of ‘shoulda coulda’ – we should have been more forgiving, more compassionate, more repentant, more inclusive, more reliant on the Divine for our very existence!  We shoulda – we coulda!  And in the midst of those times of self recrimination, we mig ..read more

April 8, 2023 I have been privileged to sit at the bedside of many people at the time of their deaths.   I have listened to their breathing as I held their hands.  I have stood on the periphery of the families as they surrounded their loved one.   I have listened to words of leave taking, once stood on holy ground as a small child sang a lullaby while curled up next to her dying grandfather.   I have heard words of love and blessing exchanged, final memories recalled, comforting words of scripture shared.  All within the context of the last breaths of th ..read more

March 26, 2023 Something has really been bugging me this Lenten season.   I have tried to ‘let it go’, but no luck.  I have run my thoughts by some of my friends in the classes I facilitate and participate in only to make everyone a bit uncomfortable. Still, I just can’t seem to let it go. So here goes … should you choose to read on…. The things we say when we speak the words of the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed (a more verbose and detailed statement of faith) are the essential points of Christianity. Bottom line as relates to Jesus Christ: Jesus is God. Jesus is al ..read more

March 13, 2023 I believe we are going through a time of great spiritual weirdness right now.   People are co-opting Christ by using Christianity as a battering ram for personal agendas and man ’splaining/woman ’splaining Jesus’ teachings to validate whatever they choose to belief.  Jesus has been put in a ‘human Jesus box’ of sorts – His divinity limited to the expectations of whomever needs to exploit Him at the time.  Maybe that’s why church attendance is down – the God of love and forgiveness is having a hard time being seen through all the self-righteous anger and ..read more

February 20, 2023 I can’t believe Lent’s almost here!  It’s that time in the church year when we’re invited to reflect on Christ’s sacrificial love for us and sit in the profundity of that sacrifice. The Lenten journey starts with Ash Wednesday when we recall the stark truth of our own mortality.  “Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return.”  The statement of earthly truth.  The black ashen sign of the cross is then imposed upon our foreheads as we begin the Lenten journey. The symbol of sacrificial love.  Those of us who claim to be Christi ..read more

August 16, 2022 “Forgive them, Father. They don’t know what they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34) I am convinced that these are among the most powerful words ever spoken by our Lord.  They are words spoken from the cross.  Words spoken when the Lord felt most alone.  Words spoken when the Lord could see no obvious assurance that His ministry had been successful.. Think of it. For three years, the Lord preached and lived love.  For three years, the Lord sacrificed personal comfort in order to comfort the comfortless. For three years, the Lord chose to use His divine power, not for Hi ..read more