“I know that my redeemer lives.” That line in Job seems pretty clear and it forms the heart of the anthem that begins the Episcopal burial liturgy. Clearly the Lectionary Committee that … [Read more...]
The Healing of a Cool Rain on a Dark Morning
Six-thirty in the morning is dark again, an envelope of stillness as dog and I walk beneath the canopy of trees along the street. No other human or canine life was visible this morning, suppressed … [Read more...]
Tending to National Character
An unusual email arrived following upon a recent “friending” through the increasingly oldster Facebook network. An eighty-something retired minister I knew decades ago, contacted me along with several … [Read more...]
The Cat That Fell From On High
When I was in seminary there was a guy who had a fat, furry cat in his third floor dorm room, and it would rest on the windowsill of the open window swishing its tail back and forth all day. It was a … [Read more...]
Denim Spirit: Death and Gratitude
http://subversivepreacher.org/denim-spirit-death-and-gratitude/ In dim light and thick air, when heavy emotions wet the atmosphere as life leaves the human body, there is an exquisite holiness … [Read more...]
Denim Spirit: Death and Gratitude
http://www.fltimes.com/opinion/denim-spirit-of-death-and-gratitude/article_32d9307e-648f-11e6-8329-df20461db823.html In dim light and thick air, when heavy emotions wet the atmosphere as life … [Read more...]
Practice Change
This post first appeared as one in a series of regular columns in The Finger Lakes … [Read more...]
Healing
A Thank-You Note, by Michael Ryan For John Skoyles My daughter made drawings with the pens you sent, line drawings that suggest the things they represent, different from any drawings she — at … [Read more...]
Spiritual Healing
Spiritual Healing This is adapted from a talk originally given for a Twelve Step recovery event in 2012 I am going to begin with a story that may make us a little uncomfortable but it rushes … [Read more...]
Fear
Before I went to seminary I worked in an acute care mental health unit of a community hospital. It was a magical place in some ways; a strange thing to say about a holding cell for suffering. What … [Read more...]