There are days when the weight of the world settles so deeply into my bones that I can barely move beneath it. My nervous system is frayed, stretched between urgency and exhaustion, between the call to speak and the desperate need to withdraw. I don’t say this lightly—I feel the fractures in our nation, the…
As we approach the season of Thanksgiving, it’s a fitting time to reflect on the profound teachings of Ephesians 1:15-23 and how they resonate with the themes of gratitude and community. To all the followers of ThoughtsPrayersAndArt.com, I extend a heartfelt message of thanks and reflection. Thanksgiving is more than a holiday; it’s a state…
Exodus 17:1-7 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42 Psalm 95 Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may…
Genesis 12:1-4a Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 John 3:1-17 Psalm 121 When I was a mere 21 years of age, I lost a dear friend and mentor. I remember her brother sitting in a wheelchair alongside the family near the coffin. We were still in the middle of the AIDS crisis. Everyone knew he had the disease….
There was a priest I knew who lived in Princeton. One evening he went to visit with a gentleman from his congregation. He had never been invited in until this day. As he approached the home and drove into the long drive, he took special notice to the meticulously taken care of lawn. It was…
Isaiah 58:1-12 It is good to speak truth to power, even when that power is me. Being new to my congregation and not yet officially starting until this coming Sunday, we didn’t host Shrove Tuesday, so I attended a nearby church. They were a warm and friendly congregation. As I entered the doorway I saw…
Have you ever had a dream in which you didn’t want to wake? Perhaps you wanted to sleep long enough to see the ending, to see what happens next. Perhaps you didn’t want to let go of the feeling or of the place. Perhaps there were people in your dream that you haven’t seen for…
I have to admit, Matthew 5:21-37, is not the scripture I would like to choose to introduce myself to a new congregation. None-the-less, God’s sense of humor is vast and the Holy Spirit is tugging at my core to acknowledge the tension in the entirety of the lectionary. Truly I would like to preach on…
Matthew 5:13-20 I have struggled to sit and write this week, not for any lack of what to say, but of a lack of courage to be vulnerable. I attempted to silence the spirit that is moving within me, perhaps out of fear. Even as priest, I am still very human and the anticipation of…
I haven’t written in some weeks. It’s been a rollercoaster of a January. We have had much to celebrate and just as much to mourn. On the bright side, I have accepted a call as Rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Stone Harbor, New Jersey and my brother-in-law was gifted with a new heart….