The Curious Ministry of an Unlikely Leader

I've been helping to straighten out the supply closets at my church. There is an abundance of items, from chalk, to tape, googly eyes, to thread. It's been a slow process for Laura, who started this project. I volunteered to take a lump of seemingly hopelessly tangled embroidery floss and thread home with me and turn it back into useful supplies. Some of them were easy to free from the mess. They immediately got wound onto a cardboard bobbin. Others were ridiculously tangled. Some pieces really weren't useful, but they still needed to be untangled from the mess before being tossed away. There was a particularly difficult brown thread. At one point, someone suggested that I simply cut the portions of the thread that was so tangled. But, then it would be less useful for whatever purpose it would be selected for. Instead, I took about 30 minutes to untie, untangle, and unwind the thread from itself.  Life can feel like that lump of str

One chilly morning, the power went out before I was awake. I was sleeping with an air purifier and the ceiling fan going, plus the heat. It seems counter intuitive, but I enjoy the airflow from the fan; I digress. The sudden silence from none of those things, which have become seemingly unimportant noises in my room, is what woke me up. It's amazing how loud silence can be sometimes. It reminds me of Elijah's story in 1 Kings. In chapter 19, Elijah has fled the town where he had been prophesying because he was afraid he would be killed. He went into the wilderness and fell asleep under a tree, he had a vision, and when he woke up he wandered a bit further and found a cave. He fell asleep there, as well. The word of the Lord came to Elijah and asked him why he was so far from the town. Elijah explained that he felt he had done everything he could and now was afraid for his life. Then, in verses 11-13a: [God] said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord , for

A pastor friend from seminary contacted me to lead her congregation while she was out of town in July last year. I was honored to be entrusted with them. The following is based on the transcript of the sermon I preached that morning. It is based on Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30, which can be found here . Today’s Gospel is all about perceptions. First, it speaks of people’s perceptions of others, then moves to our own perception of discipleship. In the first verses, it speaks of John being rejected because he was different. It then speaks of Jesus being rejected because of the people he spent time with. Jesus had a habit of spending time with people who were undesirable. He spent time with people who had been rejected from society, those we sometimes call the outcast or marginalized. The religious leaders of the day would not spend time with people who were deemed sinners. We recognize now that everyone sins, which is why we speak the order of Confession and Forgiveness every

Symbols of Holy Week Holy Week is an interesting time for me. I feel multiple emotions, sometimes all at once. I always find it strange to say I love this week, so usually I don't. Saying I love this week isn't quite the sentiment I'm trying to convey. I find deep meaning in this week. It starts with Palm Sunday, we have a couple of days with no church services, and then things hit the ground running. In the congregation I'm a member of, we have a Christian-ized Seder meal on the Wednesday of Holy Week. I call it Christian-ized because the end of the Seder speaks of the Last Supper and goes through what Jesus did and said as part of the meal. For me, this helps to bring things into perspective. Knowing the meaning and symbolic foods that were used at Jesus' last supper, his last celebration of the Passover, gives me a better understanding of the celebration of Communion, or Eucharist. I'm still rather unfamiliar with the deep and rich symbolism in the Sede

Ash Wednesday always gets me thinking. The part that sticks with me the most, every year, is watching the pastor put ashes on the foreheads of everyone.  I know most of the people in the line.  This one has struggled with illness.  This one is in prime health.  This one has recently lost a loved one.  These are teenagers.  This one had a brush with death.  This one is a baby.  Everyone gets ashes.  There is no discrimination. Death does not discriminate. As a chaplain, I've seen that far more often than I'd like. Watching the imposition of ashes every year is a reminder of not just my mortality, but also of just how real death is for anyone, at any time. Ash Wednesday does not promote happy feelings. It's not supposed to. Instead, it is the opening to 40 days of reflection, meditation, self-sacrifice. Last night was a reminder of how finite our lives are. It was a reminder that nothing in this world - not even us - is permanent. Easter morning will br

I was just praying now. Praying about everything going on in the US, about the hatred I'm seeing, about the anger, the fear, the hurt.  As I continued to pray, I realized that right now I'm feeling much like the disciples did in the boat at sea.  Mark 4:35-40 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Calms the Storm 35  That day when evening came, he said to his disciples,  “Let us go over to the other side.”   36  Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.  There were also other boats with him.   37  A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.   38  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves,  “Quiet! Be still!”  Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40  He said to his disciples,  “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Source I