Julia McCray-Goldsmith, Author at LiftUpYourHearts

If it’s not all right, it’s not the end

In the 2012 movie “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” manager Sonny Kapoor has marketed the Jaipur hotel he inherited from his father as a retirement home for budget conscious English retirees. The place is terribly dilapidated—basically it’s a wreck—so central to the narrative is how a small colony of English expats adjust to the reality of an Indian … Read the rest

Pride and Priestliness

Proper 6A

pride Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?

Sometime in the 12^th century, this phrase, or something like unto it, was reputedly said by King Henry II to his courtiers. They interpreted it as a command to murder Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been challenging the king in matters of property and legal … Read the rest

Curious to Hear

Pentecost A

Pentecost

Others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

You and I probably know a few of those sneering others. Maybe we heard them say things like “those are just a bunch of coastal elites.” Or “they voted for crooked Hillary,” or even—tragically if falsely—“Get off the bus and get out of the country because you don’t … Read the rest

Easter Community Guidelines

hashtags Easter Vigil

Am I losing my mind?

That’s what my friend Lisa asked recently. Now there’s no shortage of reasons why followers of Jesus might ask that question at this time of year. Mary Magdalene and Mary, were you losing your minds when you snuck off to see the tomb of one so shamefully executed? Or when an angel sent … Read the rest

Sight, Light and the Fight

light dark I don’t know about you, but I am ready for some light. You know the kind I mean: that shimmery spring sunlight that makes the burgeoning cherry blossoms and rhododendrons and trilliums glow, absent the relentless shadow of rainclouds. And then there’s the problem of mud. Even though Nathan preached last week that “giving up the need to be right … Read the rest

First Sunday in Lent: Desire

I came home from my Bay Area sojourn longing for home. It’s the conundrum of an itinerant preacher, which seems to be my identity these days. Like every embodied being, I long for place, for people, for a sense of belonging somewhere. Because I trust the Episcopal Church processes by which I was called to Trinity Cathedral, I know … Read the rest

Saturday after Ash Wednesday: Crack

My iPhone screen is cracked. And people notice, y’know? Its kind of an outward and visible sign of some kind of inward shortcoming: clumsiness, inability to pay for a replacement, not caring. I plead guilty to the first, sorta to the second (it’s the second time I’ve broken the screen in a month and this is adding up) and no … Read the rest

Friday after Ash Wednesday: Business

This morning I chanced to hear a fragment of radio advertising from a room at the far end of the house. The phrase caught my attention “Black Fridays in March.” I guess that’s a thing, extending the curse and chaos of post-Thanksgiving sales to the rest of the year. But seriously? Friday sales during Lent?

I haven’t yet decided how … Read the rest

Thursday after Ash Wednesday: Train

The two post-crash carless days that made up the majority of my Bay Area sojourn meant that I spent time—lots of time—on public transportation. It takes well over an hour to get from Oakland to the San Francisco campus of the UCSF hospital, and since I hadn’t really planned for passenger-hood by bringing extra reading material, I used the travel … Read the rest

Ash Wednesday: Gift

While my own Christian community was enacting ancient rituals of mortality, I was in another state attending to a hospitalized parent, and having conversations about his end of life wishes. No worries: dad is fine right now. But there’s nothing quite like brain surgery to remind a person of the finitude of human existence. So I suppose it would have … Read the rest