Seeking Authentic Voice

Tuesday night I was in a meeting with the Stewardship Commission. We were talking about the challenges of stewardship - how that word causes anxiety in people, anxiety over conversations about money, especially money in church, anxiety over budgets and bills, and the need that the church has for people to give the church money. Money which will be argued over and cause even more anxiety. We believe that that is a complete misunderstanding of stewardship as God intends, as the Bible conveys it, and as Jesus call us into.  Stewardship is really about seeing life as a gift. One is called to receive the gifts of life and ponder them - is this my gift to keep? Or, is this gift being given to me to pass on, to share with others, to give back to God? How am I being called to regift God’s blessings in my life? In the middle of that conversation a parishioner walked in looking for, pulling me out of the meeting because a homeless person had wandered into the church. I went to s...

This week our Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and our diocesan Bishop Wendell Gibbs invited all Episcopal Churches to participate in an ecumenical movement to work toward ending racism.  We were asked to dedicate this day to pondering the sin of racism and how we can work for reconciliation. Many years ago when I was in seminary the students and faculty had to participate in an anti-racism workshop. At the time anti-racism training was a new concept. One common refrain from a number of seminarians was, “I am not racist.” We all wanted to believe that and to believe that we really wanted equality and justice. The thing is, blatant racism is easily recognized and usually met with outrage, but more often racism appears in subtle ways, so systemic to our institutions, culture, faith, and politics that we fail to recognize it. For example Christians often speak of the “dark night of the soul.” It’s meant to describe a desolate time when God feels distant and life fee...

 A reflection on the readings for Proper 18B - James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17; Mark 7:24-37 Birds of all sizes, shapes, colors, and varieties are lined up on the railing of the deck. Others are happily pecking away at the feeder. And then - woosh! - they are gone! – scattered to hiding places in nearby bushes. I can always tell when the hawk is around by the split second reaction of the birds!   The other day I saw the red- tail hawk fly out of the large pine tree in front of the church and swoop across the community garden to the golf course. It’s flown off the roof of the rectory, too. This hawk has a broad wing span which enables it to soar and hover in the air. If the winds are just right, the hawk can fly to a fixed point and maintain its position by controlling the air flow around its body with minute wing and tail movements all the while keeping its head perfectly still. Its piercing eyes can detect the slightest movement of prey. [i] ...