Perhaps you’ve heard the popular saying that “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” This proverb is a slight corruption of a story from Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s tale, Alice in Wonderland. You may remember the conversation between a disoriented Alice and the mysterious Cheshire Cat. Alice asked: “Would you tell me, … Read the rest
Continue reading "Discerning the Way" »
I’m a California native, so I’ve known a lifetime of water scarcity. Which is not actually that different from the experience of Jesus’ followers living in the Galilean desert. And yet, there were six stone water jars, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Glory… God’s glory is like that!
We live in a grape-growing region, where what limited … Read the rest
Continue reading "Glorious" »
What a privilege to be here, this Sunday of the feast of Christ the King. Which also happens to be the celebration of Hipolito, Tom, Mariann and Chris the Canons. I too have served as both an honorary canon and canon residentiary in my ministry, so I remember these celebrations with joy. I know I’m not telling … Read the rest
Continue reading "The King's Law" »
Follow Jesus or go away grieving. How many of us have ever faced a decision that felt so consequential and so… binary? Get married or stay single or divorce. Buy a car or not. Have a child. Quit a job. We struggle with these kinds of decisions, and rightfully so, especially if we think that choosing one possibility … Read the rest
Continue reading "Non-Binary" »
What are you hungry for? What kind of bread actually fills you up? What would it really be like to never hunger again? By Biblical standards, those are serious questions; perhaps some of the most serious questions any of us will ever ask of ourselves. And according to Jesus, the answer has everything to do with how we … Read the rest
Continue reading "Eat THIS Bread" »
Whew. This gut-wrenching Palm Sunday story, dramatically read by our deacon and his family, reads like a catalog of provocative questions and defamatory statements about Jesus’ identity. At the outset, Pilate asks Jesus if he is king of the Jews, and then the Gospel ends with a centurion proclaiming “truly this man was God’s son.” In between, … Read the rest
Continue reading "Chaos into Quiet" »
Last Sunday, during our noon forum hour we showed the first of twelve videos produced by the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real. They feature conversations with local Episcopalians of color, and I have found them to be very moving. Today we’ll be hearing from Salying Wong, rector of St. Thomas Sunnyvale. But last week the video featured Brett Wormley, … Read the rest
Continue reading "Can it be that Bad?" »
The week before last I traveled to Denver Colorado to visit my father, who is very sick. More about that in a minute. But here’s the thing. In order to get there within our COVID bubble, my husband John and I drove the 1300 mile trip, out and back. Which meant that we crossed the Rocky Mountains in … Read the rest
Continue reading "Remembering the Future" »
Someone in this house has just recovered from a fever, has been lifted up, and is serving God. I don’t necessarily know who it is. Although… you may. The person recovered from the fever may even be you.
I know that it has been me. Lord knows I’ve had some debilitating fevers in my life: the fever of … Read the rest
Continue reading "Fever for Service" »
Until last year, my family owned a primitive cabin in the Redwoods near the Russian River. The site was green and romantic and beautiful, but the cabin was not an easy place to maintain. The overstory cast a deep shade, and moisture so permeated the ecosystem such that everything seemed to compost overnight. Including nylon mesh, which I … Read the rest
Continue reading "A Wilderness of Discomfort" »