“It is as if the Holy Spirit hangs lovingly overhead, gazing in all directions in protection and care. All that I need in this moment is right here: peace and beauty and the mercy of a fresh snow making all things new in this moment.”
Simeon’s song, the Nunc Dimittis, crops up regularly in our liturgies, especially during Evening Prayer. I wonder what it would sound like, what it would feel like, if we had Anna’s song, too, to sing as our prayers rise like incense at the end of the day.
“At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much growth. The air is cold and the sun’s light is scant these days. Plenty of nights have dipped below freezing. The last weed was picked in early fall, and nothing else has grown.”
“Thank God for Episcopal Churches all over the US that have been providing feeding programs for school children and their neighbors during the pandemic. Now we encourage you to invite young people in your communities that want to make a difference, to join you in creating new forms of neighborhood empowerment in your communities too.”
“We know that the roots of systemic racism run all through our hillsides. We don’t like to look at how bad it really is, because that would turn the ground we stand on into mush. Wrong attitudes about what we can own, who we can keep at a distance and what is owed us keep the ground from shifting too badly. But what do we lose by keeping those particular hillsides in place?”
“I wonder what might happen if, before we were to do something, a little voice in our mind would pop up with “But what if…?” We wish drunk drivers would ask themselves that before they put their key in the ignition, but we’re likely to end up bruised and shaken even if we say something.”
“I’ve always wondered
what became
of those twelve baskets of bread crumbs.
Did the disciples take some with them, …”
“Most of us no longer believe that bad things happen to us as a punishment from God. God values us as we are—and too often we find that idea the unbelievable one. How often do we fail to believe in ourselves? How often do we fail to believe that God is calling us?”
“I rise and take a breath –
you are with me, God.
With every sunrise you remind me the world goes on
and you are here in the days of my life.”
“Born in Hong Kong in 1907, her name was Florence Li Tim-Oi. She was the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion, on January 25, 1944. That’s right, 1944.”