Words take on lives of their own, so what we say and how we say it matters. I know that is not news, but I repeat it because I saw it happen even as I was preparing to preach today. A friend from Texas, who is a former minister, called to check in this week…

It was a Communion Sunday at our church this past week, and it was also the Sunday after the shooting in Georgia. Here’s what I said in that intersection. The scripture was James 2:1-8, 14-17. _________________________ Sometimes we speak in euphemisms, that is we say things we mean, but we don’t intend for them to…

For the month of September I am preaching from passages in the Letter from James, a small book towards the end of the New Testament that is an exercise in practical theology. This week’s sermon drew from James 1:17-27. ____________________________ One of the things I remember about the beginning of the pandemic when we were…

My sermon is a day or two late making it here because I was a part of the New England Songwriters’ Retreat, which was a transcendent experience for me. (If you would like to read more about that, please subscribe to my newsletter.) The retreat was close by, so I was able to slip away…

We read Paul’s writings as theological texts instead of letters much of the time. The passage for today from Ephesians gives me the feeling that Paul was writing to remind folks of what they already knew about life together more than he was trying to lay down the law. And his words helped me remember…

I spent some time with the prophet Elijah this week, remembering we all need to be nurtured. __________________________ From time to time, it is good to remind ourselves that our Bible is not a single book, but more like an anthology, or collection of books wrapped in a single cover—sixty-six of them, in fact. Like…

The story this week was the Hebrew people complaining about life and God answering with breakfast. __________________________ Yesterday marked eleven years since my father died. There are ways in which it feels like yesterday and then ways in which it seems like so much life has gone by between then and now. In his honor—well,…

I preached this sermon at the end of a long week and the stories wound together. _____________________ A couple of weeks ago, Ginger was helping Lizzy!, our little blind Schnoodle, find her way outside from our kitchen. Lizzy! got down the stairs to the patio on her own, but then she had to turn either…

My sermon this week looked at a very familiar story—Jesus feeding over five thousand people with a sack lunch—and what new things I noticed in it. _________________________ One of the (many) books I have on my shelf is one called The Art of Noticing by a man named Rob Walker, and it is exactly what…

The passage that informed my sermon this week tells of Jesus sending his disciples out in pairs, rather than just following him. It was their first such venture, and it still speaks. ___________________ When I was a high school English teacher, I did an exercise with my ninth graders where they had to write instructions…