Garrison Keillor is known for saying that nobody really wants to be around a prophet, and they don’t get invited to birthday parties. They’re just too challenging to have around in normal life. Would you invite John the baptizer to dinner with your boss? Guess who’s coming to dinner! Would you be hospitable, tell your guests to wear camel...
Be alert! To which kids often add… “the world needs more lerts.” The world does need more of us ready to respond to the image of God around us, to the inbreaking of God’s reign, to the neighbor in need of love in concrete forms. That word alert comes from Italian, and it means “to...
What are the latest disasters on your mind? And I don’t mean somebody forgetting to start the coffee. What about Sandy, or the tornadoes in Springfield in 2011? The aftereffects will be with you for a long time. The cleanup and the economic impact will continue for months and maybe years. Is that one of...
Well, what kind of reaping do you hear in these readings? What sort of end is arriving? The end of Dean Travis’ tenure? The end of 60 years of faithful witness here in Austin? The end of the term – grades and evaluations?
What does harvest mean, in this season? Many of us have just rolled in from the excessive harvest called Thanksgiving dinner....
Happy Anniversary, and a blessed feast of St. Andrew! Since he started fishing some 2000 years ago, Andrew has had an abundant catch. His name is invoked repeatedly as patron of congregations, seminaries, monastic houses, and nations. All the plaid we’re seeing this morning is a reflection of the honor in which he’s held in Scotland. St. Andrew...
Happy Anniversary, and a blessed feast of St. Andrew! Since he started fishing some 2000 years ago, Andrew has had an abundant catch. His name is invoked repeatedly as patron of congregations, seminaries, monastic houses, and nations. All the plaid we’re seeing this morning is a reflection of the honor in which he’s held in Scotland. St. Andrew...
I was away during the big storm two weeks ago. I heard and read reports about the preparations, the experience, and the damage. I was in touch with churchwide staff based in New York City and had a sense that while some had been displaced, and many were having commuting trouble, most were basically OK and the office building had no damage. I know that many, many...
These islands are frequently compared to paradise, a word that comes from Middle Eastern roots meaning “a walled garden.” It’s one of the ancient biblical images of heaven. That walled garden was a place of plenty – the orchard or vineyard of the Hebrew Bible, as well as a parkland where animals abound – where the lion lies down with the...
Greetings from the whole of the Episcopal Church, and congratulations on your sesquicentennial – the whole of this church rejoices with you in marking this notable anniversary!
Your bishop has asked me to reflect on where we’re going as a church and what your particular vocation might be here in Hawai’i. In order to do that, I want...
Every year the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York celebrates St. Francis Day with an amazing service. In many churches animals are blessed on that day, remembering Francis’ remarkable care for all parts of God’s creation – animals, plants, human beings poor and rich, even brother sun and sister moon. I was there two weeks ago, and it was a...