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It is tax filing season, an annual chore made more difficult by current economic circumstances. For me, it brings to mind Jesus’ statement, “Render unto Caesar, what is Caesar’s”. And, I would add, “but no more than what Caesar is due; the rest is mine.” Did you know Congress designed many tax credits and deductions … READ MORE…
Bart Smoot brings this to our attention: now there are floods in Haiti: Flooding triggered by heavy rain killed at least 11 people in Les Cayes, Haiti’s third most populous city and an area unscathed by the devastating January 12 earthquake that flattened much of the country’s capital. Three were killed in Torbeck, which is … READ MORE…
The “ex-gay” movement is founded on the idea that sexuality is “just a choice” and is at the lead in opposing GLBT rights in this country. The so-called “ex-gay” organizations are criticized by mainstream medical professionals for the harm they do GLBT people. The supporters of this discredited movement are linked to the Uganda bill … READ MORE…
To pray is to expose the shores of the mind, to the incoming tide of the Holy Spirit. –Ralph W. Sockman Prayer time is at the heart of the Lenten discipline….. Quiet times of silence….praise and thanksgiving, Petitions and requests for those in need, And sometimes the reading of the prayers of others. Prayers of … READ MORE…
Lent is the time of year to spiritually sort things out and ask the question, “What is my rule of life?” Everyone has one. We are creatures of habit. Most people go to bed and get up about the same times daily. Early morning routines tend to be predictable in our lives. Habits become rules … READ MORE…
Last week, our forum series featured Brian McLaren, who is a leader in the Emergent Church movement, and who gave a lecture entitled “the Importance of Being Episcopalian”. If you missed it, you can see it on the forum website (it’s about an hour long, look for the entry for Feb 14). Whether you went … READ MORE…
In case you didn’t know, we just celebrated National Wear Red Day, a day set aside to help raise awareness of heart disease in women…and honor those who’ve lost the battle against it. The figures are pretty staggering and I thought I’d take a minute to share a few of them: Heart disease is the … READ MORE…
When I was a young man transplanted from what was then a very provincial Southern California to NYC, the center of urbanity; I was assigned as a training exercise the presentation a motivational speech to a group of rookie colleagues. I punched all the old buttons I remembered from orientation talks, kitchen table parental talks … READ MORE…
While we are all aware of stewardship of resources (our own and the earth’s), we may think less about stewardship of time. There is in fact a movement afoot to return to a more sacramental sense of time—time as something God-given, not our own to “spend” as we choose. Some thoughts/questions might flow from this: … READ MORE…
