Wednesday of Holy Week ~ Betrayal

April 15, 2025 Betrayal.  One of the harshest words and most painful actions. We’ve no doubt all experienced a heart-rending betrayal at some time in our lives, and we’re fortunate if it’s only been one.  And, we’ve probably all betrayed someone else (or ourselves) at some time in our lives. Today’s gospel passage (John 13:Continue reading "Wednesday of Holy Week ~ Betrayal"

Tuesday of Holy Week ~ The Invitation

April 15, 2025 The priest and theologian Henri Nouwen wrote, “Pay attention to the people God puts in your path if you want to discern what God is up to in your life.” I wonder what the Greeks in today’s gospel passage discerned when they met Jesus as described in John 12: 20-33. After askingContinue reading "Tuesday of Holy Week ~ The Invitation"

Monday of Holy Week ~ Do Not Be Afraid

April 14, 2025 I keep a stack of notecards with quotations on them that have touched me over the years. Today’s message is, “Do not be afraid,” mentioned as early as the Book of Genesis when God makes a covenant with Abraham all the way through scripture to the Book of Revelation: "Do not be afraid;Continue reading "Monday of Holy Week ~ Do Not Be Afraid"

Vermont Night

April 12, 2025 Vermont Night “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Somewhere outside of Montpeliermiles from the lights of townwith autumn approachingbut not yetI stand under the night skyand gaze up.Such a simple actraising my face to nightmy sight to lightafterContinue reading "Vermont Night"

Spring Ephemerals

Spring wildflowers, March 19, 2025 Ephemerals(plants that flower briefly once in the spring) I walk the woods seeking spring's ephemerals,turning leaf and rock like a child seeks treasures, here in the woods of the Creek, the Cherokee,here where the creek clatters freely down limestone. Here mottled trilliums blanket the floor;hepatica's white petals blanket the moss.Continue reading "Spring Ephemerals"

Morning Prayer

March 13, 2025 Lauds And is this prayer?Just this, the shade rolled upabove smudged window panes,two unmatched candles on the sill,a vase of store-bought mumsa bright offering?Outside, the sun seepsinto the faded gray skybefore it brushes itwith the rose and saffronof another new beginning.A curtain of still-naked treesprepares to bud forthin faithful hope. Can thisContinue reading "Morning Prayer"

The God-kiss

March 11, 2025 Some years ago, a term came to my mind that describes the serendipitous, often unnoticed, gifts that Love provides us. I call them “God-kisses.” They've always been, always will be, yet how often we miss them. Yesterday, I received such a kiss, though I almost stepped on it. I was walking throughContinue reading "The God-kiss"

Advent 2024:  Passion and Dream

Advent Day Twenty, December 20, 2024 “The Christmas stories are not about a spectacular series of miraculous events that happened in the past that we are to believe in for the sake of going to heaven. Rather, they are about God’s passion, God’s dream, for a transformed earth.”  Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, TheContinue reading "Advent 2024:  Passion and Dream"

Advent 2024: See

Advent Day 19, December 19, 2024 As the days of Advent-waiting move us ever closer to the Light, I reflect on how we can continue to be Advent People who carry the light together, especially after the tree is taken down and the ornaments placed in their dusty boxes and the calendar flipped to 2025.Continue reading "Advent 2024: See"