Category Archives: Uncategorized

The last Sunday in May was Trinity Sunday, which means the next few months, from June until November, we will be in what the Church calls Ordinary Time.   I had a parishioner in Alaska who took great offense at … Continue reading →

    Last week I preached on the Trinity. Here are a few things that did not fit into the sermons, but which I find interesting.   The early church fathers were very hesitant to use the words “persons” (in … Continue reading →

  What does God Look Like? There was a little boy in Sunday School class drawing a picture. The teacher asked him what he was drawing and he said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” “Well,” the teacher said, “No … Continue reading →

  Language Fails How many of you have lived in or traveled in in a country where you did not speak the language? Some of the confusion can be pretty funny, like when I meant to say that I had … Continue reading →

“Sanctify them in your truth….”  John 17:17   In the summer of 1982 I managed to get a summer job working in a tobacco warehouse in Durham, North Carolina. Argentina had invaded the Falkland Islands, and apparently they grew a … Continue reading →

In both the Old and New Testament lessons, we hear the word “Servant.” In the Isaiah passage, the prophet is describing the servant of God, and in the Luke passage Mary says she is the servant of the Lord.   … Continue reading →

            In 1517 a renegade monk named Martin Luther let loose his frustrations with the Church, at that time the ONLY church, and nailed a piece of paper that had 95 different statements that showed … Continue reading →

A rabbi was asked if it bothered him that Christians had taken the Ten Commandments from the Jews. “I don’t mind that they took them,” he said, “I just hope they can keep them.”   We can try to understand … Continue reading →

While I was visiting a parishioner in the hospital, her daughter’s pastor, a prominent African-American pastor, also made a visit. We were making small talk, the kind pastors generally make during a hospital visit, and I asked Pastor McCormick how … Continue reading →

  When I was in the seventh grade I attended a lily-white high school. We had, as far as I knew, three minorities—two Roman Catholics and a Jewish girl. The next year that same school was around 45 percent African-American. … Continue reading →