Bitter Fruit
Lent 1: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7We’re reaching way back into Genesis this week. God has already created and distributed Earth 1.0 (with many divine updates and co-creations to come with 1.1 and beyond). God created “the man,” ha adam, or Adam from dust ...
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Can You Be a Christian Without Going to Church?
I work from home, alone (well, except for my ever-busy furry feline and canine companions, and at the moment, a steady stream of contractors who are redoing our kitchen). But I have a thriving, vocal virtual community of other progressive ...
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Transfiguration
Transfiguration Sunday: Matthew 17:1-9How awesome is Peter? I have this huge poster of an early icon of Peter in my office (pictured to the right). I love Peter because within about eleven verses (Matthew 16:18 to 17:2) he is called the ...
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Looking for God in the Ice
Last Wednesday was the breaking point for me. The last straw. The bottom of the iceberg. We were midway through a school vacation in which we had no plans, I was trying to work four or five hours a day ...
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Checklist for Salvation
Epiphany 6A: Matthew 5:38-48There are at least three times in the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament) when there appears a law about the limit of retributive punishment: eye for eye, tooth for tooth, fracture for fracture…etc. (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, a ...
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A Truly Healthy Diet with God at Its Center
I think of my good friend Rachel Stone every time I buy a fresh baguette at the Hartford Baking Company or La Petite France. In today's fraught food culture, something as straightforward as an authentic French baguette has become complicated. ...
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Divorcing Legalism
Epiphany 6A: Matthew 5:21-37
Despite the popular opinion that Jesus makes life easier and negates the need to be familiar with the laws or God of the “Old Testament” or “Hebrew Scriptures,” Jesus actually makes life and following the laws harder ...
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God Does Not Make Me Happy
Two weekends ago, the vestry had a one-night retreat. To prepare for the retreat, we were given a timeline onto which we were to draw two separate lines illustrating our life's journey thus far. One line was for specific events ...
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Oysters and Ballerina Knees
Epiphany 5A: 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, (13-16)
Do me a favor; read the biblical text (linked above). Think about it as you read, pause when you’re finished, and then continue below.
Finished already? Great.
Are you as confused as I was a ...
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What Are You Seeking When You Come to Church?
A Lutheran pastor, Diane Roth, wrote a post on her blog last week contemplating how we answer the question, "What are you looking for?" in the context of our faith and church membership. She observes that it sounds like a ...
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