Reflections

There in God’s garden stands the Tree of Wisdom, whose leaves hold forth the healing of the nations: Tree of all knowledge, Tree of all compassion, Tree of all beauty. Its name is Jesus, name that says, “Our Savior!” There on its branches see the scars of suffering; see there the tendrils of our human…

“Discernment” is one of those words that we tend to throw around a lot, especially in our current era.  In recent times, we’ve grown in our sense that how we operate here in church should embody something beyond mere “democracy,” or—even worse—personal or ‘consumer’ preference.  We also use the word “discernment” to talk about what…

I simply want to take a moment or two here and invite you to consider taking part in a couple of things that will be happening on Wednesday nights in coming weeks: Evening Prayer (Vespers) – each Wednesday, 6:30 – 7:00 pm, on the Meeting House Chancel.  Continuing on from a pattern we started during…

As we cross the threshold into a new year, I offer here to us all a blessing “as you journey into the new year,” in the words of the Iona Community’s Lynda Wright: May your eyes be opened to the wonder of the daily miracles around you and your sense of mystery be deepened. May…

“O sing to the Lord a new song…”  So begin two of the psalms in our bibles, Psalm 96 and Psalm 98, two psalms that have indeed been sung to the Lord through countless generations (if you’ve ever heard or sung something titled “Cantate Domino,” it was probably a setting of one of these two…

This month, even though many of us find ourselves craving all things warm, fuzzy, and/or pumpkin-spice-infused, a number of “civic” occasions mark our calendars and call out for our attention.  In just a few days—on Tuesday, November 6th—our local, statewide, and federal elections will call us to the polls.  Five days later, on Sunday, November…

Thoughts from Pastor Matt… Friends, I hope you don’t need me to tell you that there are many ways in which the Spirit is already at work among us, in the joys and delights of our community and in all of the talents, time, and passions shared among us.  We see it in new faces…

Thoughts from Pastor Matt… I’d already been thinking I’d write this month’s “Have a Minute?” on the topic of faith and politics… offering my own 2¢ (or, perhaps, slightly more than 2¢) on some of the ways we think about the relationship between these two fields, and how we do so with both integrity and…

As the calendar flips its way into June, most of us are beginning to ease into the rhythms of summer.  Although, to be honest, there’s not a huge amount of my own weekly schedule that changes in the summer—after all, we still have weekly worship, pastoral care needs continue, and even many of our faith…