Waking Up

“Light that never fades, dispel the mists about us, awaken our faith from sleep.”
This line from the Morning Prayer intercessions hit home. It’s a grey, windy day. We had rain all day yesterday. I’ve been fighting a cold since before Thanksgiving and my energy is sapped. It’s been good to light the candle on the [...]

Read Full Post »

The Liturgical Year Draws to a Close

This year November has five Thursdays, which gives us the luxury of ten days between Thanksgiving and the First Sunday of Advent. I’ve always had a particular resonance with the season of Advent, and I feel a bit cheated when it begins in the midst of the busy weekend after Thanksgiving. While I mostly abstain [...]

Read Full Post »

The Power of Pestering

We all know what it’s like to be worn down by persistent pestering. Dogs and small children both learn from experience that sometimes it works to whine. And if it works at least once in a while, they know to try it again. And so it is with the parable Jesus tells in today’s Gospel. [...]

Read Full Post »

Grounded in Grace

In a touching scene in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s well-loved children’s novel The Secret Garden, the fiery tempered young orphan Mary Lennox begins to win the heart of grief-stricken Mr. Archibald Craven with her simple request for “a bit of earth” for a garden. In the course of bringing the long-neglected [...]

Read Full Post »

Rich in What Matters to God

People often talk about the 21st century, particularly in America, as a time when capitalism, consumerism and advertising have run amok. And while they’re not wrong, it’s somewhat encouraging to discover that as it is now, so it has always been. It’s a difference in degree, not in kind, and it has its roots in [...]

Read Full Post »

Bargaining With God

The lectionary selection from the Hebrew Scriptures for the 17th week of the year is one of my favorites. Listening to Abraham haggling with God like a trader in the bazaar reminds us that the Judeo-Christian Scriptures have always seen God in relationship with the Chosen People. That relationship, of course, reached it purest manifestation [...]

Read Full Post »

Reminders

Patricia Livingston is one of my favorite authors and speakers on the topic of everyday spirituality. She often begins her talks by saying that she’s going to remind her listeners of things they already know in their hearts from the experiences of their daily lives. I thought of Pat when I was listening to the [...]

Read Full Post »