While I am certain I have mentioned it before, it bears repeating that in these disturbing times I have deeply appreciated the voices of those of color who speak of a continuity between now and before that those of certain privileges are likely to miss. For all the parallels that white folks like me can…

There’s a radio program called “The Moth” (themoth.org). Like most radio programs these days, you can get it in podcast form, and that is indeed how I have always listened to it. Once upon a time, I never missed an episode due to the amount of driving I had to do. These days it is…

This past week, there have been a lot of references in the public sphere to Romans 13, including both politicians and pastors. As the chapter begins, Paul writes, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.…

As winter approached in 1941, German forces attacked Moscow. It was a massive maneuver — part of literally the largest military operation in history — and one that Hitler believed was vital for the success of his fascist empire. In fact, however, proved to be not just one of the most misguided military initiatives of…

Our first Sunday together was 12 January 2025, almost exactly one year ago. Anniversaries like this always render me reflective, a reality exacerbated by the installation celebration you have planned for me (and us) this coming Sunday, 11 January 2026. There’s a song by the group The Pretenders called “Mystery Achievement.” In it, songwriter and…

“We three kings of Orient are…” begins the famous carol. And perhaps like most things famous, it’s fairly polarizing. There’s the fact that the biblical story does not say there were “three,” and they certainly were not “kings.” It is also an Epiphany carol that gets nestled within Christmas carols. Across the years, “We Three…

Nearly 200 years ago, a man named Arthur Henry Hallam died at the age of 22 of a cerebral hemorrhage. His death profoundly affected his college friend, a man we know as Alfred Lord Tennyson. His grief was deep, and Arthur’s death literally shook the foundations of his world. He journeyed into and through his…

On Sunday, we reflected on truth and lies, considering in particular how truth endures no matter our attempts at twisting, distorting, or spinning it into something else… or our attempts to deny it completely. Jesus, as we saw and read clearly from Luke 8:17, insists that all those hidden machinations that are required to support…

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how two people often experience the same thing in vastly different ways. In dramatic ways, we see this every news cycle as those within political silos of isolation receive vastly different information about what has happened and which is purposefully presented to provoke contrasting responses — and usually responses of…

Tonight is St. Nicholas Night; tomorrow is the Feast of St. Nicholas. I won’t pretend that the existence of a real St. Nicholas in the fourth Century is news to any of you, or that his sneaking gold into a house to save girls from being sold into slavery seems to have been the inspiration…