Home of the Darkwater Author
On Sunday, March 12, 2023, I led a worship service called "The Darkness May Linger, But Hope Abides." The theme of the service was to honestly lament all that we'd lost over the last three years in the COVID-19 pandemic, and also to proclaim the hope that God provides. This is an adapted form of … Continue reading Hope Abides (Sermon)
I experienced recently the importance of context, and of framing. It was a very vivid moment, and it has to do with the image I used for my Blue Christmas sermon this year. I am on a number of email mailing lists connected to the Lutheran church, and I received an email from one of … Continue reading Seeing through Lenses
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached for a Blue Christmas service on December 18, 2022. The gospel reading I preached on was John 1:1-14. You can watch the service here. The gospel reading and sermon begin around 14:30. I think there are at least two sides to Christmas. One of them … Continue reading Finding the Light of Christmas (Blue Christmas Sermon)
For my personal Advent devotions this year, I've been reading the book Wounded in Spirit: Advent Art and Meditations by David Bannon. Each day of Advent is devoted to a visual artist, usually a painter. Two or three of the artist's works are shared in full color, and an accompaning essay (or meditation) tells the … Continue reading Advent Blue
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached Sunday, October 9, 2022. The gospel reading was Luke 17:11-19. The seed of this sermon was an article I wrote for last week's edition of my newsletter Biblia Luna. Have you checked out Biblia Luna? It's filled with my thoughts on the intersection of faith … Continue reading I Am So Grateful (Sermon)
This is one of a series of posts about a trip I took to walk labyrinths in July 2022. See this post to see why I refer to these labyrinths as my "Emmaus labyrinths." Note: the numbering refers not to how many labyrinths I walked on this trip, but to the total number I've blogged … Continue reading Emmaus Labyrinth #62: New Hope United Church of Christ, Glen Rock, PA
This is one of a series of posts about a trip I took to walk labyrinths in July 2022. See this post to see why I refer to these labyrinths as my "Emmaus labyrinths." Note: the numbering refers not to how many labyrinths I walked on this trip, but to the total number I've blogged … Continue reading Emmaus Labyrinth #59: St. John’s United Church of Christ, Chambersburg, PA
This is one of a series of posts about a trip I took to walk labyrinths in July 2022. See this post to see why I refer to these labyrinths as my "Emmaus labyrinths." Note: the numbering refers not to how many labyrinths I walked on this trip, but to the total number I've blogged … Continue reading Emmaus Labyrinth #58: Gettysburg Holistic Health Center
“What does life look like to you? How would you describe it?” My spiritual director asked me that question in the middle of a session. It wasn’t a non sequitur; although I can’t recall now what the context was, her question was absolutely germane to that context. It didn’t sound out of place or contrived … Continue reading Walking to Emmaus
This is an adapted version of the sermon I preached this morning, the twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The gospel reading was Luke 8:26-39. The sermon was clearly inspired in part by the recent release of my book, Darkwater. The stories in scripture are our stories of faith, stories that tell us about ourselves and … Continue reading The Mercy I’ve Been Shown (Sermon)
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