Author: Episcopal Cafe

“These are two extremes, between which lie all the ways that God is revealed in our lives. At work, with friends, doing various kinds of labor, in nature, in the deep sorrows and joys of our lives—in each one God reveals himself to us. We have only to stop for a moment and raise our heads, to open our hearts to this moment, to see his revelation.”

“Sometime later I discovered, like an old dear friend, the scripture “We are surrounded by such a mighty cloud of witnesses…”. I knew exactly what that looked like.”

“Vincent was not the only person who paid a price for speaking the truth boldly. Bonhoeffer.  Sebastian. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Perpetua and Felicity. The Maryknoll nuns. Jan Huss. Oscar Romero. William Tyndale. Edith Stein. The list is long, and many who suffered for their faith and died are known only to God.”

“Forgive them Father, for they know not the use of turn signals”

“What’s in a name? The ancient people believed that knowing a person’s “true” name gave one control over that person. Which is one reason why people on social media use pseudonyms. It’s easier to say what one thinks if people do not know who you really are. Having power over another may be why the name of God has been elusive throughout the ages. YAWEH, I Am, Elohim, and Lord are all ways that ancient people knew God, and sometimes avoided saying the name of God out of respect or awe of, or fear for, the power of God’s Being.”

“And that Jesus is named as part of the rite of circumcision is significant. It reminds us of a very particular set of circumstances: I am who I am saves by being born into an oppressed religious minority, under the boot of foreign occupation, to a modest family in a small town on the hinterlands of the Empire.”

“The oplatek tradition may have made its way into our family because of my parents and grandparents, but I am developing a love of it for how it gives us all the task of considering the blessings we hope for others. From those who seem to be in authority, down to the children we often perceive to be mostly recipients of what we provide, we all need each other’s thoughtful blessing.”