Juneteenth, Holy Land, and Shared Sacred Joy

Next Monday, June 19th is celebrated as Juneteenth. The holiday marks the day that news of the Emancipation Proclamation was read in Galveston, TX (two years after it was penned). Sometimes people think of it as a “black” holiday, but even the oppressors get a little...

Summertime and the Living Is…

St. Stephen’s is headed into summer mode…that means it’s time to go easy and to connect with each other. We are engaging in two new efforts: We have removed the back pews so we can gather inside for hospitality. We are also encouraging everyone to greet someone they...

The Trinity: It’s All About Community

A famous icon of the Trinity is drawn to depict three figures gathered at table with the viewer as the fourth. At the heart of the doctrine of the Trinity is the conviction that God's essence includes community, it seems to suggest. On Sunday we will mark Trinity...

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

At its inception, the Christian Church was viewed by the Roman Empire as a sect within Judaism and was thereby protected from Roman persecution. Two historical events united to dissolve Christian protection from Rome: the Bar Kockba revolt in Jerusalem which...

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child…a Long Way from Home

These are the opening lyrics of a nineteenth century lament of a young enslaved child being sold away from his or her mother to a white person as property. The rendition by Odetta is particularly haunting; you can listen here:...

Growth Surprises

It seems so often that when we think about growth--spiritual, emotional, physical--we assume that we need to have a 9-step "refuse to lose" mentality. We set the goal; we determine the plan; we work the plan. Control and results are completely up to...

Remember How We….

I am taking a memory enhancement course offered by Amazing Place, a non-profit ministry partner of ours whose mission is to care for folks with dementia and their families, along with a parishioner at St. Stephen's. The class is designed for people "north of...

Death and Resurrection: the Heart of our Faith

This week in the school chapel services, we focused on the power of darkness and light, death and resurrection which seemed fitting for the first week of Easter. I asked the children to talk about their experience of the dark and death. Little did I realize that two...

Cocks crowing and Other Signs

Last week I awoke at 3:00 a.m. to what I thought was a child crying in distress. Always a mother, I roused myself from a sound sleep to ensure that I wasn’t dreaming and that I would be ready to respond. I listened again. A soprano like moan that...

Life in the Garden is Brutal

This weekend we begin the Holy Week journey to Jerusalem where Jesus will eat Passover, be crucified, die, be buried and be raised. There is so much drama in the Passion Narrative—love, betrayal, fear, abandonment, grief, anger, pride, doubt, violence, injustice. As I...

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