Being in a monastery during Advent was like being inside a cozy New England Inn during a terrible nor’easter – a terrible, loud, windy, snowy storm. Sitting by a fire with spiced, hot wine during a gale-force-winds-storm is how it felt to sing and pray by candle-light in a habit while the world around us rushed by
inspired by the continuing actions of native peoples and allies to protect their water and sacred spaces from the Dakota Access Pipeline, poet Mark Ash
God gives Moses ten commandments… plus a few additional instructions
“I had found solace in stillness and strength to face my future. As a result of the move, I found God truly does bring good from all things”
For a long time in this parish, and, really, each of the parishes I served in, one of the burning questions was what to do with our stuff. Especially the stuff we were not using anymore, as well as the stuff we never had used but had been given as charitable cast-offs by members. As the end of Lent approached and our plans for the outdoor Vigil took shape, I saw an answer to what to do with all this stuff. Burn it all in the Great Fire.
And from that second firing the potter cracks the kiln open seven days later with her chisels, removing the graceful vase, tortured twice by fire after fire. Suffering is like that fire. We are lied about. We are betrayed by the shallow, the silly, the frightened. We are diagnosed. We are operated on. We are bullied. We are whispered about. We are manipulated by power. We are exposed to so much suffering. We regret. We grieve. We envy. We betray our best selves. And we suffer.
This week’s review is ‘Denial,’ which tells the story of the libel suit against a noted Holocaust denier
Season 2 continues as Colin Chapman interviews the famous, the talented Jay Sidebotham. Also in this episode Anna Courie and Josh Hearne come to the roundtable to discuss some religious issues from the election season. We discuss Donald Trump’s sexual assault comments, how forgiveness plays out with political candidates, Hillary Clinton and Wikileaks, the religious right and whether Evangelicals forfeit their moral high ground supporting Donald Trump, and other election madness.
I listen to music all the time, but the music that I keep coming back to, and that matters most to me, is the music of the church. Why does it matter? It matters because it opens a door for us to experience God on many levels, and speaks to us in ways that are too deep for words.
Luci & Jordan discuss the journey to Sinai