Seeking Authentic Voice

Five generations back, my great grandmother, Hannah, who was three months pregnant, travelled with her young son and daughter, on a rickety small pox infected ship from Manchester, England to Upper New York state. Her daughter died on that ship. She left her husband behind because he had to work to earn money. She also left all of her extended family, parents and brothers, cousins, everyone. She and her son continued their lonely journey across the St. Lawrence seaway by boat and train, eventually ending up near St. Louis. She then walked 1300 miles, in her last trimester of pregnancy, across the plains to her destination, Salt Lake City, Utah. Her baby, my great great grandfather Jacob Chatterton, was born three weeks later.  I think of my five times great grandmother, and her journey of faith, when I think of Mary on this Christmas Eve night.  I think of their strength. I think of their faith. There are differences of course, my grandmother was an extraordinary ...

 A reflection on the readings for Christmas wherein the story of the birth of Christ is told. The following prayer will open the candle-lit worship service at 11pm Christmas Eve: When the world was dark and the city was quiet, you came. You crept in beside us. And no one knew. Only the few who dared to believe that God might do something different. Will you do the same this Christmas, Lord? Will you come into the darkness of tonight/today's world; not the friendly darkness as when sleep rescues us from tiredness, but the fearful darkness, in which people have stopped believing that war will end or that food will come or that a government will change or that the Church cares? Will you come into that darkness and do something different to save your people from death and despair? Will you come into the quietness of this city/town, not the friendly quietness as when lovers hold hands, but the fearful silence when the phone has not rung, the lett...

Here is some of what I am thinking about as I prepare the workshop for our diocesan convention next week. The theme of the convention is being Stewards of Creation (or something like that). And this workshop is a reflection on "green" worship.... “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Word was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Word, and without Word not one thing came into being. What has come into being in Word was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1) Scripture reminds us that we worship through an Incarnational theology that believes that the creative energy of God is and has been present since before creation. This energy of God manifests as breath, as Word, as Jesus, and resonates in and through all creation. As Christians we understand God’s presence in the world primarily through the Incarnation – God...