“The Walking Wounded” Genesis 32:22-31 Rev. Mark Feldmeir A cab driver arrives at the Pearly Gates and announces his presence to St. Peter, who looks him up in his Big Book. Upon reading the entry, St. Peter hands the cabby a robe and a golden staff and opens the gates. A preacher is next in line. He announces himself to St. Peter, and upon scanning the preacher's entry in the Big Book, St. Peter furrows his brow and says, "I suppose we'll let you in, but you only get the cloth robe and … [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...]
Think Outside the Bowl
A few weeks ago I had one of those windshield conversations with my eighteen-year old son, Casey. We were heading home after a week of fishing in the High Sierras when, quite unexpectedly, he asked if I was nervous about preaching my first sermon at St. Andrew. It’s a beautiful thing when your eighteen-year old son asks you a question that doesn’t end with the words “money,” “credit card,” or “car keys.” “Dad, are you nervous about preaching your first sermon at St. Andrew?” I was touched by … [Read more...]
Parting Words
Parting Words June 15, 2014 I always admired my father’s tools as a child. My father was big into tools, because my father was big into fixing just about anything from broken plumbing to broken bikes to broken engines. There was nothing my father could not repair, and there was no tool he did not have to repair it with. The garage was my father’s domain, and he kept it as clean and spotless as a surgical room. Hanging proudly on the walls of the garage were all of his hand tools – an … [Read more...]
Running on Faith – Easter 2014
Matthew 28:1-10 Easter 2014 Over the last couple of weeks Lori and I have been going from room to room in our home, thinning things out, determining what we’ll take with us to Colorado and what we’ll leave behind. We have three kids, and two of the three, I’m happy to say, made the final cut. I found three years of Architectural Digest magazines in a cupboard, and I didn’t even know I had a subscription, so they’re gone. Dozens of Barney and Friends VHS cassettes, a box of Cadbury Eggs from … [Read more...]
