“Flagbearer”, June 2020 version This is a painting that I’ve been working on, on and off, for several years. I started her because I was enamored with Lupita Nyongo’s character in Black Panther, and wanted to do a trace of her face to do work on facial structure and rich Read more…
The readings may be found at: http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Lent/ALent3_RCL.html The text can be read below: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Jesus said to her: “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will Read more…
This sermon was given on February 2, 2020 for the Feast of the Presentation, which delightfully fell on a Sunday this year. The texts used may be found here. We live in difficult times, and hopefully this conveys what it was like for others who lived in difficult times to Read more…
This sermon was preached on June 30, 2019, the weekend following my ordination to the transitional diaconate. The texts were from Luke, Galatians, and 2 Kings–though I did not discuss the Kings reading. Audio will be available shortly. On Tuesday, as you might know–I took vows: vows that allow me Read more…
Riding Around the Horizon: Mille Lacs Around a lake you can’t see across… On May 26, 2019 I rode my bike all the way around Mille Lacs, a lake in north-central Minnesota. Mille Lacs is known for its excellent walleye fishing, home to the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and Read more…
This is a sermon on the book of Esther, to round out the St. Matt’s 2019 series on the Old Testament. Esther is a book that only appears once in the lectionary, and so this was a fun adventure: trying to tell the whole story, capture the attitude of the Read more…
Campsites of the Trip Where I Stayed and What I Loved Traveling as a solo woman can be daunting, and camping as a solo woman can frighten a lot of people into avoiding it. But, I loved camping solo. It wasn’t at all like my other solo travels: there’s so Read more…
Road Trip 2018 In August of 2018, I took my first solo road trip across the United States. I tent camped in National Parks and National Forest campgrounds the whole way. I visited places that I had been fascinated with since I was a child, looking at glossy photos in
The Best (and Hardest) Rides I’ve Ever Taken Rides from my 2018 Road Trip to the South West Around Lake Dillon &Summit Co. Rec Path This was my first encounter with real mountains, and it was probably my first time ever above 8,000 feet. This ride was hard, but incredibly
This article is a sermon on the Binding of Isaac, at St. Matthew’s Evening Service on October 14. Listen to the whole thing here. Featured image is Sacrifice of Isaac, by Adi Holzer, 1997 from Wikimedia.
When I preach, I usually sit with a text and ask myself the question: What is the good news that makes a claim on us in this story? What good news is God offering us in response to all the mess and bad news that we carry today?
Our church is exploring the stories of the Old Testament in a narrative arc, from Genesis 1 to Daniel, to dig deeper into this ancient relationship between God and Humanity. One can’t go back into our history without looking at Abraham: the forefather of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam–and in all these faiths, no one can escape the moment when God asks Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. It’s central to our stories about our origins, the culmination of decades of wandering around, waiting for a promised child–which was why I sat, struggling on a Thursday night, asking myself: “What is the Good News here?”
But each time I tried to answer the question, I was met with another question that shoved it out of the way, and that was:
As Florence floods the Carolinas, after Harvey sank Houston, and after Katrina exposed not only our ignorance and denial, but of our communal capacity to leave each other behind—after all these things, Noah’s story is taking on a new kind of significance.
This sermon was delivered at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, June 17. Audio will be available in the following week at stmatthewsmn.org. You can read the lessons here. When I was in second grade, our family moved from a tiny student apartment to a little house in Nashville, Tennessee. The house
Or…parts of tomorrow’s sermon I could not keep.
The vastness of the night sky is nearly blue above them, the trail of stars etched into it, needle holes in the firmament, holding back the waters of the wild.
The magi travel on the open road, all alone, not speaking to one another. The only sound is the sound of their saddles, shifting, and the bells on the straps, but it is lost in the vastness of the dark. One hums to himself, yet the sound is simply absorbed into the spectacular scene above, and they follow a new star, a strange star, toward Jerusalem. (more…)
Over the years, especially during the season of Advent, I love returning to the image of Mary the Mother of God. Her story, interpreted in so many different ways by really talented artists, is one of courage, hope, love and bravery. While I hope to make many more images of
This is a sermon on Matthew 22:1-14, and the rest of Proper 23 for Year A. I encourage you to read all of the texts Track 2, starting with Isaiah and going onward.
It’s a sermon on what happens when we meet a God who doesn’t make sense–or makes sense in a pretty horrible way–and how we might address the stories in the Bible that make us go, wait–WHUT.
(It is the first part of the lectionary passage for Sunday, June 18, or Proper 6).
On Friday, it was announced that the officer who shot Philando Castile seven times, was found not guilty on all counts against him. I find this incredibly troubling, deeply disturbing, on so many levels that I find it hard to make them all clear to you.
A man shot another man seven times with a child in the back seat, and he was found not guilty of all charges brought against him—including reckless discharge of a firearm.
Now, more than ever, I will keep my faith. In uncertain times, and wading into uncertain waters, I will listen more than ever for how I am to be a Christian. I will not forget that the Jesus Movement was originally counter-cultural, originally a movement of resistance against a tyrannical
This is the text of a sermon preached at Hamline Church on July 17, 2016. The two texts were the Parable of the Leaven, and the story of Mary and Martha with Jesus.
And again he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with[a] three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
