Author Archives: reallifepastor

This summer, we’ve been exploring what it means to act the world into wellbeing.  As I contemplated how to engage that theme on this last Sunday in August—which has become a singing service—I thought about Pete Seeger.  Pete believed—really believed—that … Continue reading →

  Rhetorical question:  Who are you going to vote for in November?  How do you feel about folks who’ll be voting for the other person? At the beginning of the summer, neither today nor last Sunday had a theme.  I … Continue reading →

           The day after VBS ended, I got an email from Miss Janet:  “Let’s have a mini-VBS on Rally Sunday!”  Still in recovery mode from volunteering during VBS, I groggily typed, “What’s the theme?”  “The little … Continue reading →

Today’s homily from Betty Roth’s funeral service at Pilgrimage. Two months ago, none of us could have imagined this is where we’d be today.  Just a couple weeks before she went into the hospital, Betty–as she did every year–volunteered at … Continue reading →

Among my folk music friends, I often hear the lament:  “Where has all the movement music gone?”  Many social movements throughout history have been spurred on by music.  The labor movement in the 19th and 20th centuries and the Civil … Continue reading →

Acting the world into wellbeing… It’s a catchy phrase.  It resonates well with our mission here at Pilgrimage.  It sounds like exactly what we followers of Jesus should be doing. But in light of what’s been happening in the world … Continue reading →

Have you heard?  Pope Francis has elevated Mary Magdalene’s saint day (July 22) to a Feast Day.  Among Catholics, the move puts Mary on equal footing with the Apostles.  The decree states that this woman, “recognized as one who loved Christ … Continue reading →

It’s been an intense week, she understated.  It began last Sunday as reports of the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando began pouring in.  VBS began the next  day.  Wednesday, many of us gathered here at Pilgrimage for … Continue reading →

It’s an old story.  A person struggling with mental illness is excluded from the community, called demonic—that is, not of God.  When the person gets some relief for his illness, the community still wants nothing to do with him.  Yes, … Continue reading →

Kim:    “Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman…”             Holly/Dan:    Not respectful….   Kim:     But that’s the title given by the editors of the NRSV, “Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman.”   Holly/Dan:   It’s not respectful.   Kim:    Okay.  Jesus Heals a … Continue reading →