Julia McCray-Goldsmith, Author at LiftUpYourHearts

Indelibly Inked

For years I have carried the memory of a sermon in which an Episcopal priest posed the question of why we don’t anoint people with indelible oil. That is, when we are baptized—marked as Christ’s own forever—why isn’t the mark more visible? The obvious answer to this rhetorical question being that the visible sign of our identity as Jesus-followers ought … Read the rest

The Stable and the Supernova

John 1:1-14

Explosion of planet or star

Merry Christmas!

If you happen to have been here Christmas eve—I was, I go to church a lot—you might recall that yesterday’s readings and pageant were all about shepherds, angels, and the baby in the manger. The familiar—if peculiar—story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is a tale of wonder and courage and extraordinary generosity on the part of … Read the rest

Things Hoped For

Advent 2A

“What was written in former days was for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope,” wrote the author of the letter to the Romans. Which sounds comforting in a season when I am actively searching for signs of hope. And of course there are plenty: even in the … Read the rest

Evangelist of Few Words

st-andrew Feast of St. Andrew

“Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you.” In our first reading we heard the Deuteronomist teaching about the imperative of both observing the law and also of passing on faith. Which ought to both reassure and terrify us. We’re told that it’s not hard, but practicing and … Read the rest

Practicing to be Unprepared

Proper 28C

What a week, no? I think we’d all be in our rights to seek a little distraction, so I’m wondering: what’s your favorite genre of scary movie? I’m not talking about anything you might have seen on CNN or MSNBC or Fox News…

Myself, its crime dramas. You know the scenario. Someone does something wicked, but the culprit … Read the rest

Subjunctive Saints

All Saints

In these final painful days of our electoral season, when saintliness seems remote from the public sphere, the familiar words of what’s popularly known as the Golden Rule: “do to others as you would have them do to you” seem to take on a special urgency. Mostly because they are the words of our Lord, whose teaching I … Read the rest

Blessed be the Seeds

Proper 22C

I never imagined myself saying this in church—or anywhere else, for that matter—but this morning I feel a bit like a mulberry tree. Some very faithful people said “be uprooted from your 13 years of service on the staff of the Bishop of California and be planted at Trinity Cathedral,” and here I am. Feeling a bit out … Read the rest

Eschatological Investment

Proper 20C

Its somewhat legendary in the Episcopal Church that the seminarian or brand new clergy get assigned to preach on the Sundays when the lessons are really difficult, or when the theology is complicated (like on Trinity Sunday). Steve, I’m not a seminarian! And just because I’m moving away is not an excuse to punish me.

But here we … Read the rest

Compassionate Judgment

Proper 19C

Many years ago when I was waking up to my Christian faith, I took a Bible study course that used a particular method for reading scripture. Bible scholars call that a hermeneutic: a lens though which we consciously (or unconsciously) interpret a sacred text. So in this case, for each Scripture passage we studied, we were asked to … Read the rest

In Between the Barns

Proper 13C

“What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.”

So said the rich man in the parable of Jesus we just hear this morning. He’s really … Read the rest