Week of January 17, 2021
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, “We will not walk in it.” (Jeremiah 6:16, NIV) I believe that most of us want to be the hero of our own story. We…
Week of January 10, 2020
It’s Thursday, the day after the attack on the Capitol, and I am asking myself, “do I need to say that trespassing, vandalism, intimidation, violence, and the attempted subversion of our legal election process is morally wrong? Or do we already know that?” But in these moments, it is not necessarily about personal spiritual direction…
Week of January 3, 2021
Anniversaries. We have all been asked that question, after turning another year older, “so, do you feel any different?” The answer to that often depends on the disposition of the person in the moment, but it is easy to say no. The day after I turned 49 this year did not feel all that particularly different than the…
Week of December 20, 2020
One of the fundamental moves that all roller derby skaters learn is the “transition.” When you transition, you turn your body around in place while still skating in the same direction. So for example, if you are skating forward, you spin around and begin skating backwards, or vice versa. It is a helpful move because it allows you…
Week of December 13, 2020
As we get a clearer sense of the timeline of the pandemic and how long things like social distancing and the lack of in-person worship will continue, it has become apparent that we need to be increasingly intentional about staying connected with our members. In particular we need to be seeking out those members whose participation…
Week of December 6, 2020
This week I am continuing answering the brown bag sermon questions from the “lost service” a few weeks ago. This one is a doozy: Q: In my reading of the New Testament, I don’t find any instance in which Jesus directly said anything about abortion, one way or another. Am I missing something? So the…
Week of November 29, 2020
Last Sunday morning, Vimeo suffered a system-wide failure across the country at 10:30 AM, precluding us from being able to broadcast. That included my three answers to questions submitted by parishioners! So what to do? Well, I thought I’d answer one each week in the Corner. Here’s the first: Good evening Father Rob, I asked…
Week of November 22, 2020
While there are many days of the Christian year whose motto could be the quote from Julian of Norwich, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well,” a good contender for the top spot could be this Sunday, the last Sunday after Pentecost, aka “Christ the…
Week of November 15, 2020
This week I was chatting my phone with a parishioner here, a person who lives alone and tended to be a bit of a solitary person. It was a bit of a pastoral call, just to see how she was doing, and after a bit of conversation she said, “but how are YOU doing, Father Rob,…
Week of October 25, 2020
First of all, I’d like to thank all the people who helped make the first every “Fall Festival of Faith and Fun” possible. I had a great time being a part of it, and loved watching all the talented members of the congregation sharing their gifts with us. Second, my additional thanks to everyone who helped…