We are doing a little time travel this morning. The Gospel passage we just heard takes us back to the beginning, almost the very beginning of Mark’s Gospel story. We are offered three distinct events in Jesus’s life here, each one related in Mark’s typically terse style, just a couple of sentences each. Jesus is … READ MORE…
Simpler Living Tip #17 from Phil Petrie Lent is a season when we think about giving up things, not to punish ourselves, but to deepen our relationship to God. The underlying idea here is that it is pretty easy for our appetites to get out of whack—for habits to become addictions—and I think all of … READ MORE…
Sisters and Brothers, We live in a community where nearly one in six people are unsure whether they’ll have enough to eat each day. How can that be?What would it look like to love our hungry neighbors as ourselves this Lent? There are no easy answers. Diving deeply into Lent’s holy disciplines of prayer, fasting, … READ MORE…
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. (from Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare.) The recent membership campaign on PBS clearly targeted the 70-something demographic as it aired multiple concerts consisting of folk singers, quartets, and bands from the 1950s and 1960s. Moving from actual films of those musical people half a century ago, … READ MORE…
When I received the email from Chris Harris regarding Ashes to Go I was very hesitant to respond one way or the other. I thought it was a clever idea, but wasn’t quite sure if I agreed with such an unconventional method of giving ashes and I certainly was not sure if I could be … READ MORE…
On Ash Wednesday, the nine Ashes2Go teams from St Paul’s Cathedral distributed ashes around the city to over 500 people. They prayed with them, and received more than 54 names for the prayer list. And, by sharing a blessing, they were blessed themselves. Here’s a reflection by one of the participants. I loved Ashes to … READ MORE…
I was not raised in a church tradition that observed Lent. Our small congregation of a fundamentalist sect of the Christian faith in a small town had banned all reference to what its founders considered ‘papist’, including any mention of saints, crucifixes, and church seasons except for Christmas and Easter. The reasoning behind such proscriptions … READ MORE…
It’s time for this year’s installment of Lent Madness in which Saints and Holy Men/Holy Women go up against one another for the Golden Halo. Yes, there’s some fun, but also education, and a chance to learn about (and vote for!) your favorite saints. Go check out the bracket and join in the fun.
Lent is a time for reflection and study. Here’s a great resource from CREDO on Lenten Reflections. This year, CREDO presents a series of reflections for Lent on Feeding and Fasting. Just as we all are fed in various ways, these Lenten reflections provide varying perspectives from four different writers. Joe Chambers, Bud Holland, Molly … READ MORE…