Sermons
The Presence in Absence
The absence of his presence, the presence of his absence, like a palpable thing.
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Simeon and Anna: Life-Rubbed Glory
It’s evening as I write. All day I’ve been accompanied by two evening figures. They shine these two, not with the untried brightness of the morning, but with the heart-breaking beauty of late day light.
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If, but . . . and in between
Last Sunday we just touched this text and thinking of it during the week, I recalled this sermon I wrote several years ago. It asks a question pertinent to this time of pandemic this time that troubles us mightily.
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A Word for the Darkness
Epiphany always begins with the wisemen. Faithful studiers of the night sky their attention is caught by a wild star,a star not on any of their star charts.
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Seeing Saints
Luke 19:1-10 This day near the threshold of All Saints, I invite you into this morning’s story looking for saints. I invite you to enter holding in mind the Godly Play question: “I wonder what part of the story is about you?” I invite you to “immerse yourself in the story and identify with…
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In the Crowd
I have to say Palm Sunday sometimes makes me angry. Even though, or perhaps because, I am in that crowd, cheering with the rest of them for the safest bet, the quickest fix, the most obvious answer. In my heart I know with certainty that life requires of me a deeper attention.
Read MoreStarlight and Slippers
Matthew 2:1-12 There was an Epiphany that found me travelling home from a small town the other side of Toronto. I carried, along with all my bags and books, the story of the magi that we heard today. Drawn by the motion of travel into an interior world, in my imagination the magi journeyed again; their…
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The Eyes Have It: John 3:1-15
In the desert,long before John’s gospel was written,there was the story of a people always walking backwards,their eyes turned toward what had been,people always ready to be distracted from life’s unfolding,by the sightless golden calves. These people, so the story goes,were bitten by snakes.Strangely it was the first time in all those years in the…
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Inclusion
Do you ever read ahead in the novel? Take a quick peek at the end or the half-way point? Does the book ever just happen to fall open at a place that captivates you; Five minutes later you discover you have stood there your elbows on the counter, wondrously out of sequence. In a sense…
Read MoreA Resurrection Riff
Resurrection: A riff on the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria played by cello and piano Resurrection – say it softly, as one must after the softening notes go wherever notes go when they no longer sound. Resurrection As I write this it is snowing The snow falls like the notes of the music And though at times the…
Read MoreHinge Time
Luke 9: 51-62 I read this text just before the Summer Solstice when the daylight hours reached their greatest fullness and began to turn toward the longest night. I read this text just as Jesus’ time in Galilee came to an end and he began to turn toward Jerusalem – he set his face. We…
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