The school year is wrapped up and in the books. Graduation has come and passed. Spring has sprung. Cool weather is on its way out. It is the end of a school year, the end of a season, the end of life as it has been for a long time. And yet, even thou...

One church I served had a Children’s Day Out program. On Wednesday mornings we had chapel in the sanctuary. Each week I would bring a small box, about the size of a shoe box, wrapped in elegant gold paper, filled with something to help me tell a s...

Jesus’ life was steeped in prayer. He often withdrew from the crowds and even the disciples in order to pray. As a rabbi, he would have led his band of followers in regular prayers throughout the day – morning, noon and night. One day, as he fin...

The people of Israel had been waiting a long time. They had endured war, famine, oppression and exile. They had been overrun by foreign nations that turned them from citizens into subjects. But they had never lost hope. They knew the promises God...

The wilderness is an intimidating place, full of dangerous animals and extreme conditions. It is a place that will test a person – body, mind, heart and spirit. Very few of us enter the wilderness willingly. And when we find ourselves there, we t...

The Gospel of Luke, chapter five, tells us of Simon Peter’s powerful encounter with Jesus. Simon had been out on the boat all night with nothing to show for it but a sore back and empty nets. And now those nets needed to be cleaned and mended so t...

I come to the beginning of a new year with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I see the beginning of a new year as an opportunity to make the changes I need to be healthier and stronger in heart, spirit, mind and body. On the other hand, I know that...

We’ve all been there – stuck in a bad situation, one of our own creation, one that someone else caused, a simple case of bad timing or bad luck. It doesn’t matter how we got there, all that matters is that we don’t see a way out. “I lift up my eyes t...

As a kid, world history was fascinating to me. I would hear about world wars, pandemics, the Great Depression, and disasters that swept across nations and around the world. Each time I would study some great and terrible event I would think, “I am s...

A fairly famous, yet very quiet conversation echoes from 2,000 years ago. One night at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, a respected leader among the Jewish people came to him in the cover of night. Nicodemus, a well-seasoned, wise teacher, wanted t...

About this time last year I was preparing for an Ash Wednesday service and trying to teach my then 6-year-old son about that day on the church calendar. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, a season of preparation before Easter. On that day, many...

Holy. It’s a word we shy away from. It seems too daunting, too strict, too boring, too demanding. We use it as a put down: “holier than thou,” as if holiness is a bad thing, something to keep well more than arm's length away. Even within the Churc...