The 20th century anglican priest and theologian Austin Farrer said that “religion is more like a response to a friend than it is like obedience to an expert.” My deepest experiences of God tell me that Farrer is right, but my deepest ingrained habit is to approach the wisdom of Christianity looking for expert answers, … READ MORE…
‘There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but his fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious … READ MORE…
On Friday I returned home from the annual conference of deans of North America, which this year took place in Jerusalem. We were about 35 deans and spouses, from the US including Hawaii, Canada, and the Bahamas, as well as our hosts, the Deans of St George’s College and St George’s Anglican Cathedral. A gathering … READ MORE…
Alleluia. Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! When I got up this morning I started, as usual, to look for signs for life. I turned on the faucet, and as the clean water flowed out I gave thanks that, even in a severe drought, all I have to do is turn the … READ MORE…
Aaron Harvey did not grow up where I did. He grew up in Lincoln Park, in southeast San Diego, the territory of the Lincoln Park Bloods. Aaron, who is black, grew up with his three siblings just streets away from both sets of grandparents, who had themselves moved into the area with their kids in … READ MORE…
Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 22, 2015 It was spring festival time in Jerusalem. The city streets were awash with tourists and pilgrims. The Temple was crammed with people coming to both worship and sightsee, from all over the Empire. Visiting Gentiles had heard about the Galilean rabbi who had created a stir, parading into … READ MORE…
The owl Once upon a time, when I was a teenager, my older sister gave me a little stone owl, just big enough for me to close my fist around. At the time I was all about the classics, and the little owl reminded me of Athene, the Greek goddess of wisdom, who is often … READ MORE…
Okay. I know this is early in the morning, but we’re in Lent and the Gospel demands it so we’re going to talk about the cross. Ready? Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that if we want to be his followers — and we do — then we need to deny ourselves, take up our … READ MORE…
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…
What brings you here today? Why, on your lunch break, do you find yourself in church so that you can be reminded that “you are dust, and to dust you shall return”? Oh, there is much death in this world! What is so appealing about such a personal reminder of our own? Last year I … READ MORE…