They Took Jesus with Them, Just as He Was I imagine God is crying this morning. In fact, I am sure that God has been weeping since Wednesday. This morning in Charleston, South Carolina, our brothers and sisters in Christ are worshipping God in a church where nine saints of God were killed last Wednesday […]

The Voicemail The flashing light tells me someone has called. I sigh, probably another marketing call, “do you need your windows cleaned?” Amid sobs, “He’s sick, … visit him? … looking for God, … help him? We don’t know …, … call back?” There it was. So clear the need through garbled words. No name […]

(A sermon based on Exodus 3.1-15; Matthew 16.21-28) I have a friend who loves fiddleheads. You know, the first green fronds of some ferns. They appear in the earliest spring, almost before spring it seems, while we’re still having cool nights and the ground is still too wet to do any planting. While winter might […]

(A sermon based on Genesis 12.22-32 and Matthew 14.13-21) Often when we hear this Gospel story, we are struck by the enormity of it. A deserted place. Five thousand people, sick and hungry. So much need! So many people fed! So much left over! But the way the lectionary pairs this Gospel reading with the […]

(A sermon based on Genesis 45.1-15 and Matthew 15.21-28) Imagine a meeting of the combined US House and Senate down in Washington. Can you picture that room? Oozing with rich wood, usually decorum among the members, particular behavior and speaking protocols to be observed. You don’t just speak up. You wait to be recognized. There […]

(A sermon based on Genesis 37.1-4, 12-28 and Matthew 14.22-33) It’s a story fit for the movies, and of course, popular movies have been made about Joseph. The play, and later movie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is one. In the story of Joseph we hear about divine blessing, the blessings of the land, […]

                                   Last week was the third anniversary of my Mom’s death, and I pulled out the eulogy I wrote for her.  I’d like to share it — and a little bit of us — with you here: When Mom spent time outside in the […]

St. Patrick’s Day is nearly upon us, and so I offer this poem I wrote in honor of those who fled Ireland during difficult times and through dangerous passage.  Though specifics change over time and place, still immigrants everywhere continue to suffer. My Great-Grandparents’ Ride It’s all forgotten now, you know. The coffin ships, The […]

Last year as a student pastor, I was scheduled to preach the third Sunday of Advent. I prepared a sermon for children and adults alike. But then there was the horror of the shootings at Newtown. How to preach Joy in the midst of that pain? And how do we ever preach Joy in our […]

(This is a playground blessing I wrote and set to rhyme. I offered it at the opening of the rejuvenated playground on the grounds of the Jackson Community Church UCC, Jackson, NH) Children are our wisest guides Jesus tells us to be like them. They play on swings like this and slide so smooth, so […]