Besieged Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Over the last couple of weeks I’ve never been so acutely aware of how differently people see the world. I’ve heard from so many of you about your perspectives on the presidential election and, from what I can gather, the general sentiment is somewhere between euphoric and apocalyptic. It’s a reminder of how we can all be looking at the same thing yet see it so differently. I thought about the woman who went to the auto shop to pick up her car. The man at the … [Read more...]
Remember
“Re:member” -- Psalm 77 Since the days of the Early Church, Christians have always observed a season of preparation for Easter that focuses on the themes of penance, reconciliation, prayer and good works. We set aside time for honest self-reflection, to ask ourselves, “How is it with my soul?” “How is it between me and God, or my neighbors, friends, enemies, strangers?” “Where in my life, in my relationships, is there brokenness and a need for forgiveness or reconciliation?” “What doubts, … [Read more...]
Where God Is
“Where God Is” 1 John 4:7-21 It still happens from time to time that a stranger will stop to ask us for directions. But it’s a rare occurrence, these days. Thanks to the personal navigation device, just about anyone can get to just about anywhere from just about wherever they happen to be. The GPS has saved a lot of time, and a lot of marriages. If Moses had had a GPS, it wouldn’t have taken him 40 years to get from Egypt to the Promised Land. You can find anything these days – even if you … [Read more...]
Wide Awake
“Wide Awake” Genesis 28 Several years ago, as a farewell gift, my former congregation in Rancho Santa Margarita presented me with a signed and numbered lithograph by the Russian-born French artist, Marc Chagall, whose work I have long admired and who is one the most celebrated artists of the twentieth century. As an artist, Chagall drew deeply on the resources of the unconscious and the dreamy, surreal world of Jewish myth and fable, where fiddlers dance and livestock drift above the earth … [Read more...]
In Praise of Folly
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Whether you find yourself jumping at the site of a spider or working up a sweat at the mere thought of boarding an airplane, fears and phobias seem to plague just about every one of us, often in very debilitating ways. If I were to ask you to name some of your personal fears, you might list the fear of death, or the fear of snakes, or the fear of heights, or the fear of clowns, otherwise known as coulrophobia. Perhaps you would list the particular condition called … [Read more...]
