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Nothing will be impossible with God. This is what the angel Gabriel told the young Mary, echoing the message of 2nd Samuel when the Lord told the prophet Nathan that God would make a great house from the line of the simple shepherd now become king David. And Paul reiterates it in his own … Read the rest
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Today being Christ the King Sunday, and myself never having lived under the authority of an earthly king, I thought I’d better do some research into how my peers think about kings. So I did what contemporary people do, and turned to the Oracle of Mountain View—that being Google—for insight.
I figured that … Read the rest
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Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?
Sometime in the 12th 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
Continue reading "Pride and Priestliness" »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
Continue reading "Easter Community Guidelines" »
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
Some of you may know that one of the great privileges of my first year of service at Trinity is to shepherd our Catechesis class, which is a 20-week long immersion in the Christian and Episcopal traditions. And this past Wednesday and the coming one, we’re studying Holy Scripture: the Old and New Testaments. From a teacher’s perspective, … Read the rest
Continue reading "With Charity for All" »
This past week, almost 130 priests and deacons from the Diocese of California gathered at the Bishop’s Ranch to listen to, learn from and pray with our central sacred texts—the four canonical gospels—in ancient and fresh ways. Alexander John Shaia, a psychologist and scripture scholar who led this year’s clergy retreat, offered us a way … Read the rest
One of the most persistent puzzles of cognitive science is what’s called the “cocktail party effect,” which for us could just as well be called the coffee hour effect. It’s the ability we human beings have to single out and listen to a particular voice in a room buzzing with many voices, and its … Read the rest
Allow me the liberty of beginning with a disclaimer. I’ve been a priest for all of six weeks now, and every Sunday it still feels brand new. Which means you may have to bear with my learning, but you also get the benefit of my complete and shameless joy in the new job. And, lest you’ve never … Read the rest
Just how much mustard do we need, really?
I know its an odd question, but since we just heard the famous parable of the mustard seed I want to reflect a bit on my relationship to its condiment cousin. I don’t know about you, but I have lots of mustard in my refrigerator. There are all these odd … Read the rest
