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Category Archives: religion
Being Martha/Being Peter: The Other Lesson of Maundy Thursday
In November of 1997, I attended North Carolina Episcopal Cursillo, a short course in Christian living modeled after a movement that began in Spain in 1944 to train lay leaders in the Roman Catholic Church. The three-day spiritual pilgrimage alters … Continue reading
Lent and the Incarnation: Our Bodies, Ourselves
We who call ourselves Anglican are often labeled incarnationalists. With our Creator, we believe that what he made is good and acknowledge on Ash Wednesday, “You hate nothing you have made.” With Gerard Manley Hopkins, we exult that “the world … Continue reading
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Tagged fast, grace, Incarnation, Jesus, Lent, religion, sacrifice, sin
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Bless Me, Father, for I Have Sinned: An Ash Wednesday Vision
Let’s just stick to “thou shalt not kill,” or we’ll be here all day. Your sermon on February 12, based in part on Matthew 5:21-37, reminded me that there are many kinds of murder that won’t ever qualify as plot lines on Law … Continue reading
The Many Gifts of Music
Preferring the feel and the smell and the fillable margins of real books, I had never listened to an audio book until I received one as a Christmas gift from a dear friend seeking to relieve the tedium I experience on … Continue reading
Waiting for God
Several days ago, I found a box taped up when we moved here seven years ago and never opened since. Amongst the knickknacks, costume jewelry, and small-appliance instructions I found there was this photo. Two friends hamming it up in over-the-top seasonal regalia sweaters … Continue reading
Lessons and Carols
Advent 2011 Two long years ago, I wrote beneath my name inside the front cover of a newly acquired book the date when I started reading it, “Winter 2009.” Sometime later I scribbled below the date a more revealing message: … Continue reading
Our Hunger for God Is Too Small
Advent 2005 Just after matins one day in the early history of the church, a young postulant for holy orders sought out his spiritual mentor. “When, Father, will God be ready to fill me?” Father John took a length of … Continue reading
Bring Me Back to You
Advent 2004 I have told the story of my first Advent experience so many times that it has gained mythic proportions—in my own mind at least. The dates have been changed (but only slightly!), and other events from that first … Continue reading
The Thing with Feathers
Advent 2003 Emily Dickinson tells us that “hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” Let’s forget all about the image in our minds of … Continue reading
A New Kind of Expectation
Advent 2002 I will admit from the start that I am a relative newcomer to Advent calendars. The church in which I was weaned did not observe the liturgical seasons. I had to wait until I was over 40 to … Continue reading