Category Archives: Uncategorized

Good Friday 1 This story is so sad. There’s so much love and evil. And fear. Maybe that’s what evil is— fear gone bad.  Or mad. Fear. I really think that’s mostly what this story is about— FEAR. Pilate was … Continue reading →

It’s a familiar story–whether you’ve heard the one in the Bible or not.  A young person leaves home, full of confidence and looking for a good time.  The behavior seems rebellious, but mostly it’s just an attempt to establish some … Continue reading →

“O God, I seek you.  My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”  Is your soul thirsty today?  Does it feel like you’re wandering around an … Continue reading →

A few chapters before today’s Gospel lesson, Luke tells us that Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem.”  It’s a literary device that sets the context for how to read everything that happens between that statement and what happens … Continue reading →

Lent is here.  Already.  The look on Fran Howard’s face last week when I announced the Ash Wednesday service said it all.  (Make face.)   Those who were able to attend the Ash Wednesday service got a good start on … Continue reading →

For what does your spirit long tonight?  What inside you feels incomplete, fragile, unworthy, lonely?  Do you ever try to satisfy that longing?  Chances are, you do try to fill it.  Because the ache of the emptiness, our wholeness is … Continue reading →

Prayer for Our Muslim Friends    President Obama made an historic visit to a mosque in Baltimore this week.  In the face of so much anti-Muslim rhetoric these days—especially among presidential candidates—he reminded all of us that ours is a … Continue reading →

Jesus and his disciples have been traveling throughout Galilee.  After a hectic schedule of teaching and healing and hosting 5,000 people for dinner on the ground, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him up a mountain to pray. As … Continue reading →

The past two weeks, we’ve spent some time with I Corinthians 12, where Paul explains his Mr. Potato Head theology:  “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit…To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the … Continue reading →

Since I became your pastor in 2001, we’ve accomplished a lot together.  We’ve lived in to our ONA identity in some beautiful ways, including celebrating our first Transgender Sunday last November.  In 2001, I never would have dreamed that I … Continue reading →