Video version follows text “I have hymns you haven’t heard...” Believe it or not, that awesome line from Rilke is what the story from Nehemiah is about -- music we haven’t heard yet. Spoiler … [Read more...]
Hope — the practice of hope
For a video version of the sermon, scroll to the end I started talking about the spiritual practice of the Baptismal Covenant last week, and I am going to carry on with that -- but with it’s … [Read more...]
Where hope may be found in the darkness
A video version can be found by scrolling to the end of the text Micah was a prophetic oracle of both judgment and hope, and he announced the coming destruction of Israel – which would have seemed … [Read more...]
Hope Secularized: Super Power for Mortals
It is a very thin line between secular and sacred. In fact, there need not be anything at all separating them. If you have read even a few posts from subversivepreacher, then you know I am all about … [Read more...]
Poked by Hope
In his column last week, Michael Fitzgerald went digging for silver linings in the dark clouds hanging over our heads these days. In her reflection on personal mortality, into which she invited the … [Read more...]
Ugliness and Beauty
Stop. Take a slow, deep breath. Fill your diaphragm first and then let it out slowly. Try it again, closing your eyes perhaps. Ah. There is a relentless car alarm blaring at us, emanating from … [Read more...]
What Hope Looks Like
Honestly, it is difficult to move beyond scalding words this week, or morose millstones nobody but nobody needs to hear. It is bad out there in the nation, especially in those many states New York has … [Read more...]
BONES
We are in the endangered days of a global pandemic when we are navigating uncertainty and acting in ways we never have before. We are alive in dangerous times – not only for our bodies and our … [Read more...]
Hope Rises
After thirty-plus years of preaching sermons flow naturally. The rhythm of my week more or less moves between the banks of sermon preparation and sermon delivery. Sunday after church, I pop the … [Read more...]
The Morning After
It is the morning after. The sun came up gilding tomorrow with hope or lacing your heart with despair. But what is the difference between hope, wishful thinking, or conversely, despair? We need to … [Read more...]