December 17, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Worship

For all the Advent talk about slowing down, focusing, and breathing in an effort to appreciate the season of Advent, as well as bringing more meaning to the season of Christmas, we (I?) sure have a hard time making that happen.  Between shopping for Christmas gifts, decorating the house, planning or attending parties, writing Christmas cards, and mailing said presents and cards so they arrive “in time,” we can often forget what Advent is calling us to do.

With all of these activities and expectations, it’s easy for us to get caught up in the busy-ness or the doing of what seems to be expected.  We need to find time, especially during this season, to make space for simply being.

This is but one reason why our Sunday worship is vital to our health.  Our worship can be a calming presence in life.  It can be a place where we come to reset the rhythms of our life.  It can be a place where we find both solace and strength.  It is a place where we receive both pardon and renewal.  It is a place where we can slow down, breathe, and simply BE in the holy presence of God.

No matter how busy this season of slowing down seems to be, I invite you to make the necessary and intentional time to come worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.  And while you are in the holy presence of God, allow the Holy Spirit to reset the rhythm of your life and help redefine what is important.

Blessings,

December 10, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Joy

This coming Sunday is the Third Sunday of Advent.  It is known as Gaudete Sunday, which is a Latin word meaning Rejoice.  The color of Advent is traditionally purple because it was seen as a penitential season similar to Lent – as Lent was the season of preparation for Christ’s resurrection, Advent was the season of preparation for Christ’s birth.  That penitential tone was broken up on the third Sunday when a pink/rose candle was lighted and some churches would use rose-colored vestments and hangings.  Many churches have recently switched to blue for Advent as a way to more overtly honor the role of Mary.

Regardless of whether a church uses blue or purple, the Third Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of joy.  And in our readings this week we have Isaiah proclaiming the blind shall see, the deaf hear, the lame shall leap like a deer, and the mute will sing for joy.  Our Psalm speaks of justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry, and orphans, widows, and strangers will be cared for.  Jesus tells people this is the time the blind see, the deaf hear, lepers are cleansed, and the dead are raised.

The joy of this Sunday shouldn’t only be reflected in scriptural readings and worship.  The joy of this Sunday should be a goal to which we aspire – we should be working for justice, healing, and wholeness to bring joy to those around us.

Our job is to proclaim the love of God and extend hope to all people.  By working to live into that vision we will be working to bring a bit of joy into the world.

Blessings, 

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November 19, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Meals of Thanksgiving

All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above . . . Hymn 291

Yesterday Marilyn oversaw a group of cooks that included Dollie, Kim, Mildred, and Nikki, as they put together several lasagnas (16 to be exact) for the Surprise You Sale on December 6.  If I remember right, last year was the first year that people could purchase and take a lasagna home.  It was such a success that they’re doing it again this year.

Lasagna, paired with a good salad, is one of my favorite meals.  So it was a joy to hear those women working in the kitchen with conversation and laughter . . . and that’s not to mention the aroma that wafted through the parish hall.

Meals are an important part of almost every culture.  They symbolize welcome (think Sarah preparing the meal for the three strangers that Abraham encountered), inclusion (think Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners), and/or the sharing of cultures (I think about meals I shared with my daughter’s host family in Germany).  Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and most of us will spend time sharing a meal with family and friends. 

And while Thanksgiving is a big event in our culture, let us not forget that we share in a Thanksgiving meal every Sunday.  Every Sunday we participate in Holy Eucharist, a Holy Thanksgiving, where we offer our thanks and praise.  Every Sunday we participate in Holy Communion, which is the sacred meal of the Church and a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.

We are surrounded by meals.  And while Thanksgiving meals are special, fun, and important, let’s not diminish the importance and meaning of that sacred meal we share every Sunday.

Blessings,

November 12, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Remembrances

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down . . .

This past Monday was the 50^th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior.  Yesterday was Veteran’s Day, originally designated as Armistice Day to remember the end of WWI and those who served in that war and was then changed to Remembrance Day in other countries to remember all men and women who served in the military.  And, of course, November 2 was All Saints’ Sunday when we remembered all the saints of God.

As I said last week, death is an inevitable part of life.  But just because it is inevitable does not make it easy.  The burial service is rightfully an Easter liturgy because it finds its meaning in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  But even in that joy of resurrection we are faced with deep sorrow at the loss of a loved one; that is normal and good.  Besides mourning a death, we may also be faced with taking on additional tasks and/or responsibilities that the other person always took care of or maybe there’s a permanent empty space in our lives.

But as we continue on in our lives we, hopefully, find ways to remember those who have gone before.  Every year on November 10 the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald is rung 31 times in the maritime cathedral – 29 times for each crewmember, once for every sailor who lost their life on the Great Lakes, and once for Gordon Lightfoot who immortalized that ship and crew.  On November 11 people around the world remember those who served and/or gave their lives in military service.  On All Saints’ Sunday the church remembers all the saints of God, both known and unknown to us. 

And we remember at other times and in other ways.  I remember my dad who couldn’t contain his laughter as he read Amelia Bedelia to our very young daughter, or the passion he had for his favorite football team. 

Death may be inevitable, but our remembrances are vitally important.  May we find ways to remember those who have gone before in ways that bring us joy.

Blessings,

November 5, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Death

Nobody gets out of here alive.

Over the last few days I’ve been thinking a lot about death.  Last weekend was the triduum of All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Faithful Departed (or Day of the Dead).  On Saturday afternoon I attended a gathering sponsored by Hospice advertised as a “Death Café,” where people come to discuss death and dying.  Later that evening I got a call from Mary Fowlkes’ daughter-in-law saying she had taken a turn for the worse, and I’ve been to Amie Holt each day to check in on her and pray with her.  Sunday we commemorated All Saints’ and All Faithful Departed where I read the names of those who have died this past year at the beginning of the liturgy and which included the baptism of the perfectly adorable Astrid Grant.

Death is an unavoidable consequence of life.  Where there is life, there is death.  That has been the case from the beginning and will continue to be the case until the very end.  So, with the biblical exceptions of Enoch, who “walked with God, then he was no more because God took him,” and Elijah, who ascended to heaven in a whirlwind, everyone dies – even Jesus.

But death is not to be feared.  Even though we die, my faith tells me that my Redeemer lives and he will raise me up.  My faith tells me that Christ has destroyed the bonds of death and that we will live in the glory of the resurrection.  My faith tells me that even though all of us go down to the dust we will make our song, “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

Let us remember that we all die.  Let us remember that death is no more to be feared.  Let us do our best to prepare ourselves and our loved ones for that time.  Let us live in a way that emulates Christ.  And, at the last, let us live and die in the hope of the resurrection.

Blessings,

October 29, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Mystery

One of the things I like about the Episcopal church is that we’re okay living into and with mystery.  And when I say, “mystery,” I’m not talking about a Nancy Drew or Agatha Christie whodunit mystery to be solved.  When I talk about mystery in the church, I’m talking about “the deep dimension of life where meaning dwells.”[1]

The Trinity, the dual nature of Jesus, and the Resurrection are all mysteries of our faith.  Other mysteries include Holy Communion, the Incarnation, creation, salvation, forgiveness, and love.  I’m sure that we could come up with more mysteries if we thought about it.

Every Sunday we live into the mystery of the Eucharist.  Every Sunday we have a close encounter with God through Word and Sacrament, through music and liturgy, by being part of this community, and by being present for those who are absent.

This coming Sunday we will experience the mystery of All Saints’ as well as the mystery of baptism.  We will name those who have died this past year and remember those who have died in previous years.  We will remember that we are part of one communion and fellowship of the saints of God – those who have gone before, those who are with us now, and those who are yet to come.  We will join our voices with countless throngs of angels to offer unceasing praise. 

We will also baptize Astrid Grant into this branch of Christ’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.  We will pray that she is open to God’s grace and truth.  We will pray that she will be filled with the Spirit of God.  We will pray that she learns to love others as Christ did and that she becomes a witness to that love.  And she will be sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own for ever.

Our faith is full of mysteries not to be solved but to be lived.  May we continually seek and find those deep dimensions of life where meaning dwells.

Blessings,

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[1] Taken from Mysteries of the Faith, pg. 2, by Mark McIntosh which is as good of a definition of “mystery” as I’ve come across.

October 22, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Welcoming Liturgy

As Episcopalians, we believe that the Holy Eucharist is celebrated together as a community, and worship is not whole without the active contribution of every member of the congregation. – Dustin Seo, Cellist

I ran across this quote while reading an article by Mr. Seo entitled, “Worship as an Invitation to Belong.”  In that article he talks about church shopping, being a contract cellist for church music programs where he was seen as simply another vendor, to finally finding a church home.  He found a home in the Episcopal church through the liturgy and through the welcome and hospitality of parishioners. 

Mr. Seo reminds the reader that “liturgy” is a word derived from two Greek words, laos and ergos, and is roughly translated as “the people’s work,” or, “the work of the people.”  We are reminded that everyone has a role to play in the liturgy; none of us are bystanders, spectators, or an audience.  The priest and altar party obviously have the most visible roles, but the congregation also have roles to play – everything from lectors to ushers to ensuring responses are read and said in appropriate places with appropriate vigor.

Part of being a welcoming congregation is to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness with a sense of joy because our joyful worship is contagious and tells visitors that this is a good place to be.

The other part of being a welcoming congregation is to notice when visitors take that bold step to come to worship for the first time.  Our first contact with visitors should not be about swarming them with activities and asking them to lead Sunday school or sign up for coffee hour, but should be about offering a sincere welcome and a willingness to move out of your pew to help guide them through the liturgy.  Because, let’s face it, our liturgy can be complicated with the red book/blue book/stand up/sit down/kneel down/sit down movements.

I love our liturgy and find it is a time when most of us connect with God on a regular and personal basis.  But let us also remember that our liturgy can be a place of welcoming and community for those who are searching.

Blessings,