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Practice

Lent is a season for slowing down and focusing on what matters most. For many people this entails “giving up” something. This act of fasting can be a way to practice discipline, to free up space in our lives, or simply to stop doing something that we know is not good for us. The practice of giving up something for Lent might get the most attention, but for many people, Lent can also be a time for “taking up” something such as a new spiritual practice.

We’re already a week into Lent, but in case anyone out there was still looking for something to take up (It’s never too late!), I...

Many crosses

As far as I can tell, the only cross regularly displayed in our sanctuary is on the front of the pulpit, two thin lines that can, depending on the light, blend in with the grain of the wood in which they’re cut.

That’s about to change.

Our Lenten worship theme this year is “The Cross and…” Each week we’ll be meditating on the cross from a different perspective – how it has been understood, and misunderstood, and what this freighted symbol Christians claim might have to say to us these days.

This will include a different cross-related image projected on the banner...

Consolations

One thing feeding my soul in 2020 has been David Whyte’s little book Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. If you are a lover of language, or just someone who uses it occasionally, it is soooooo good. He takes 52 ordinary words, presenting a several page meditation on each. Here is a taste:

Anger is the deepest form of compassion, for another, for the world, for the self, for a life, for the body, for a family and for all our ideals, all vulnerable and all, possibly...

The brief life of the nuclear family

The cover story in the March edition of The Atlantic is titled, “The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake.” This five minute video with author David Brooks gives a summary.

Brooks’ basic argument is that the nuclear family – a household consisting of two married parents living with their children – rather than being the norm for human thriving, was a freakish aberration that peaked in...

Creation Care Commitments

If you missed our Winter Seminar a few weeks ago, you missed out on some great conversations about practical ideas for how we as individuals and as a congregation can practice care for Creation. Amy Huser, the Sustainability and Outdoor Education Director from Camp Friedenswald, led the seminar on Saturday and preached on Sunday morning.

During the Sunday morning service, Amy invited everyone to write down their own commitments to Creation Care and place them in the offering. I have compiled those offerings, and I wanted to pass them along both as a reminder of the things we...

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