“What we have left, once again, is the story. And today it is THE story, the story to answer all our anxieties. “I have seen the Lord,” says Mary. She knows he is no longer in the tomb; he has conquered death. And gradually, over weeks and years, she and all Jesus’ followers will come to understand what this means.”
“As we go through this Holy Week journey in this time of global suffering, may we choose the Way of Jesus. May we let go of any control we think we might have. May we act and react in love, not striking out, refraining from harm. May we see our part in how things unfold all the way to the end. May we live in such a way that our Lord, who suffered the Way of the Cross, has nothing to be ashamed of in us.”
“Rather than worrying about hand sanitizer and toilet paper, we can take pride in finding safer ways to deliver food to people who are hungry. We can bug our town councils about providing places to shelter for those experiencing homelessness. We can reach out by phone and computer to our friends and family who are isolated. We can send money to organizations which are safely providing health care, food and shelter to people who have been infected. We can enjoy walking outside and can take photos to share with those who can’t get out. In millions of ways we can be creative, joyous, and active in love.”
“He says the time has come when the Father will be “worshiped in spirit and in truth”. God is spirit, he says, so worship from the part of us that is spirit, too. It’s not where you worship, it’s how.”
“The sign that the process has been successful is how God is able to use the ritual to reveal God’s self. Good liturgy is like a windsock that way. It fills up with God and points in the direction that the Spirit is blowing.”
“Paying attention to the words that fall from the lips of God, refusing to tempt the Lord, and worshiping God only, serving God alone, are good rules to follow when we have power.”
“There is a vast wealth of understanding we can take away from this Transfiguration story, enough that each time we engage with it, we will learn and grow. Today what I am hearing is that whatever I want to do, wherever I want to go, I ought to turn my attention to how God has engineered the experience as an opportunity to be known to me.”
“Jesus was always unequivocally supportive of those without voice or place in their communities — lepers, tax collectors, beggars, people who were unwhole. He healed the broken, never making them feel as if they had no dignity. He restored outcasts to their communities. He invited new understanding of what it means to be a neighbor to everyone, no matter what their differences.”
“I get angry, gossip and manipulate until I catch myself at it and stop. It is with struggle that I give up my grudges and ask God to forgive the grudges God could carry against me. I am only now, at age 68, beginning to see that noticing beauty, joy, and gratitude is seeing Christ present in the world.”
“We Christians all have one thing in common; we have met Christ in one way or another, and the encounter has moved us to make some transformation in our lives. Whether that is as simple as beginning to go to church on a regular basis or as complex as choosing and sticking with a Rule of Life, it invites us into a spiritual community.”