“Jacqueline! Your gas tank light is on empty!” Bernardino gasped in astonishment. “I wasn’t thinking about it,” she replied. Together, they went to the gas station, and the needle on the dashboard went from empty to full. “He is a good boyfriend,” my daughter told me. The character trait of goodness speaks loudly. The Gospel of Matthew … Read more
I can almost guarantee that if you ask any child (possibly well into teenage years) what they want to be when they grow up, you are not going to hear, “a saint.” Similarly, if you ask an adult how they want to be remembered, you most likely will not hear “as a saint.” One of … Read more
A few weeks ago at church, we arrived to find name tags waiting at the greeter’s table. This might sound pretty normal, but for this congregation, it was something genuinely new and exciting. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is a re-start congregation that began meeting regularly during Advent. They gather in a building that was recently … Read more
For many people, February 14 is best known as Valentine’s Day, a celebration of love, devotion, and commitment. But for millions of Christians around the world, this date carries an additional, deeper meaning. It is also the birthday of Richard Allen, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the day the AME Church pauses to observe Founders’ Day. At … Read more
It’s a time of war, violence, and social instability. The government is hungry to expand its land holdings and consolidate its power. People are gripped by fear; it is unclear how far the ruling powers will go in their quest for domination or who will get caught in the crossfire. Nothing feels certain. Such was … Read more
Don’t talk to strangers. Definitely don’t talk to strangers in chatrooms in 2003. These are the sorts of essential socializing advice that you received growing up in the 90s during those peak “stranger danger” years and then in the early years of widespread internet access that followed. I suppose these are still the basic rules … Read more
Blessed are the storytellers, for they shall… … make an incredible sum of money to sustain them and their descendants. (uncommon)… know fame and notoriety for the rest of their days. (uncommon)… impact the hearts and minds of so many who are privileged to engage with them. (all around us) We feel seen. The most beautiful … Read more
I’m a big believer in “practice makes permanent.” Muscle memory is a real thing. Any of us who have learned an instrument, memorized a poem, or learned to drive know there is truth to this principle. And in today’s world of quick answers and Googleable everything, I think it’s easy to forget that permanent change, … Read more
I am convinced that I grew up in a parish out of time. I know that many churches seem trapped in amber, but when I say that my childhood church, an Evangelical Lutheran (ELCA) congregation in Staten Island, existed somehow out of time, I can point to a peculiar array of examples. There was the … Read more
C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony Desmond Tutu & Nelson Mandela Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau Marie Curie & Albert Einstein I find tremendous joy whenever I discover that two powerhouses are friends with one another. People who are influential enough as indidividuals, but their shared friendships … Read more
