Hello, friends. I am busy writing a Lenten devotional that will be published by Herald Press next January: Prone to Wander: A Lenten Journey with Women in the Wilderness. So I haven’t posted much on the blog lately. I’m dropping a couple of recent worship pieces below. And I hope you are all having a…
*You can read the full text of the sermon here. The general principles of how we live together–principles of peace, of justice, of love–come from God. The specific laws and rules about how to live according to Godly principles are human creations–our best efforts to discern what specific actions will lead us to live out the peace…
As you may recall, Jesus previously put the chief priests and elders in a rather precarious position by asking them a question in front of a mixed crowd (Matthew 21:23-27). The religious leaders knew that one answer would upset one group while a different answer would upset a different group—so they said, “We don’t know.”…
The violence in this parable is startling. We can understand why people might decline an invitation, but to beat and murder the servants who extend the banquet invitation seems inexplicable. Likewise, we can understand the king being disappointed that those invited refused to come and angry about the mistreatment of his slaves—but to send his…
Reflection on Exodus 20:1-17 How then shall we live? That’s a question that the ancient Israelites surely had as they wandered around in the wilderness after being freed from slavery in Egypt. How then shall we live? If you are feeling disoriented lately, confused and exhausted and unsure of where to plant your feet—just imagine…
(Second Sunday of Lent, 2023) During Lent, we often talk about the wilderness as a negative place—a place of deprivation, temptation, and wandering. But in this week’s reading from Genesis, God calls Abram into the wilderness: “Go from your country . . . to the land I will show you.” I imagine Abram was terrified—not to…
Reflection on Song of Songs 4:9-15 and John 2:1-11, readings from Dr. Will Gafney’s Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W. You can read the full sermon text here. The speaker in Song of Songs says, “how much better is your love than wine,” but Jesus’ mother knows that a wedding party can’t run on…
God tells Daughter Zion—who stands for the nation of Israel–to “make your shade like night at the height of noon” (v. 3) for the daughters of Moab. Isn’t that a beautiful image? Here in church, and maybe especially during the season of Epiphany, we like to talk a lot about darkness and light. And that’s…
Baptism is weird. And that’s as it should be. Because there really is not a logical way to do what it is we strive to do in baptism. In baptism, we are doing something physically to suggest a change in our inner, spiritual reality. According to Christian belief, the body and spirit are connected, to…
Hello, friends! I am excited to begin the Narrative Lectionary with my congregation and to share my first Narrative Lectionary post with the Rev. Gals community. I love that the NL allows us to follow the narrative arc of scripture from beginning to end—to engage with the Bible as a whole rather than just dipping…
Spacious Faith 