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 askingContinueContinue reading “Tuesday of Holy Week ~ The Invitation”
Tag Archives: spirituality
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 lightafterContinueContinue 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.ContinueContinue reading “Spring Ephemerals”
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, TheContinueContinue 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.ContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: See”
Advent 2024: Fog
Advent Day 18, December 18, 2024 The above photo shows the view from my kitchen window yesterday morning. At this time of year, with the leaves gone, I can usually see the traffic below on one of the busiest roads into the city, but not yesterday. Fog snaked low across the valley before descending over the roadContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: Fog”
Advent 2024: Gaudete Sunday
Advent Day 15, December 15, 2024 For those who incorporate an Advent wreath into their Advent traditions, today is the day to light the pink candle, the Joy Candle. Known by its Latin term, Gaudete Sunday, this third Joyful Sunday in Advent reminds us that we are almost “there,” that the waiting for the Christ-LightContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: Gaudete Sunday”
Advent 2024: JOY
Advent Day 13, December 13, 2024 “We need a little Christmas now.” Songwriter Jerry Herman If you’re looking for a prayer app, let me suggest Lectio365, a 10 minute devotional resource composed by leaders of Prayer 24/7, an international Christian movement focusing on prayer, mission, and justice. My reflection this morning is motivated by yesterday’sContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: JOY”
Advent 2024: The Long Goodbye
Advent Day 12, December 12, 2024 Today marks the 10th anniversary of my mother’s death. She died at 94 after a long decline caused by dementia and Parkinson’s disease which left her a “two-assist,” an impersonal term meaning that it required two people to move her from her bed anywhere else, even though she only weighedContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: The Long Goodbye”
Advent 2024: Notice
Advent Day 11, December 11, 2024 I am currently walking with a group through the book, The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus’ Birth, by theologians Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. It definitely isn’t Christmas Hallmark movie reading. Yet in spite of its scholarly depths, the authors make some intriguing observationsContinueContinue reading “Advent 2024: Notice”
Spirit Reflections 