The life and legacy of Martin Luther King are the great inspirations of our time for those who seek peace on earth and goodwill to all. In the hands of many who seek to honor King, however, his most revolutionary and wildly unpopular movements are overlooked too often. We will remember together the risks of … Continued

I heard a woman say once that she was a little crazy. No one around her laughed. Everyone just kind of looked at her uncomfortably. Maybe they were wondering whether she was OK, or if she might do something unexpected, or something…well…crazy. But she didn’t. She sensed that maybe people misunderstood her. She went on … Continued

What a blessing to have a reminder of the holiness a night can hold. I remember many winters when I looked forward to hearing that song belted out by a couple who sang for the New York Metropolitan Opera but lived in my hometown during my high school and early college years. It was a … Continued

Around this time of year, I always remember learning about one of the first worship services I would get to lead as a real, grown-up minister. It was a few years ago, as a ministerial intern. And one of the first things that happened in the internship was to go over the worship calendar for … Continued

This is one of my favorite spaces in the church, not because it’s the sanctuary, the place I get to hold you hostage to listen to what’s on my mind each week. It’s something older and deeper than that. It’s something more than that. See, this, my friends, is our cafetorium. Cafetorium is a drab … Continued

  Where were you? Where were you when it happened? This is one of the questions that can define a generation. One that holds so many stories for so many of us, stories of where people were when something happened that changed the world, or at least changed our world, forever. Today celebrates 100 years … Continued

It is fall now, right? It is the season when the leaves change, isn’t it? The smell of fresh baked apple pie, the crack of the bats of those baseball players taking their season down the stretch, aren’t all those things happening? No? Maybe? Well, not so much, right? This season we call fall is … Continued

Once upon a time, a group of people who thought a little differently about religion than those around them began looking for a spiritual home, a place where they could experience the divine in the way they felt called to do so. And after some negotiations, they were able to secure a place to do … Continued

  Growing up, a lot of the stories I heard were about animals. Some of the most beloved characters in literature are nonhuman animals who act a lot like human animals. I remember one in particular: The Fox and the Hound. One of the moments in the story that is indelible for me was when … Continued

Sometimes life just isn’t fair, right? Seems like sometimes no matter where you go, someone’s right around the corner waiting to get over on you. Sometimes it feels like you’re not even safe from this right in your own neighborhood. I learned this firsthand a few months ago. It was a beautiful, bright June morning. … Continued

I remember the first real strawberry I ever had. I will never forget it. I was living in Texas and I was in middle school. Out in our back yard, there was a tiny little plot of land that lay between our patio and our pool. My sister decided once to till this tiny plot … Continued

Many attest that we learn by doing. As wonderful as teachings and ideas may be, without action, ideas don’t come to much. We will explore what it means to select a teaching and put it into a practice that might shape our lives.

Can you remember some of the images in the poem, Kindness, that Martina read? Staring out a window forever, eating chicken and maize. An Indian in a white pancho dead on the side of the road. Gazing at bread. Naomi Shihab Nye is an artist at the very height of her powers, surely. And no … Continued

One of the most powerful stories some people have is how they got the name they have today, how they wish to be called by others today. And there are all kinds of ways to get a name. Many of us here today received our names as a type of inheritance. Perhaps a relative had … Continued

This past week, leading up to today, I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t doing a little bit of reflecting. There’s no reason to make any big deal about it, but I turn forty years old today. Now, a lot of people, especially friends that like to give people a little ribbing, like to see … Continued

In my freshman year English class in high school we learned a lot of poems. There is one that I still remember. The world is too much with us: late and soon, Getting and spending we lay waste our powers: Little we see in nature that is ours. We have given our hearts away, a … Continued

There is really nothing quite like a cliffhanger. Movies, books, television shows…they all use of this device. It activates something in our mind, something that desires resolution, something that desires closure. It’s probably good for us, but it can be unsettling. Anyone who saw the new Marvel Comics movie knows that. I won’t spoil anything … Continued

Telling stories is something we have been doing for ages in our shared human family. Out from our ages past, some of the stories we tell change and mold to fit the times in which we live. We will look together at the ways we understand stories and how we tell our own.

Nestled up a bit in the valley is a house. It is like a lot of houses. It has walls, and windows, and doors. I know things about the house, things a lot of other people don’t. On quiet days, mostly on Mondays, doves roost and coo together in pairs on the lawn. There is … Continued

A wise teacher, really a governess of some fame, once offered this famous suggestion: “Let’s start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start.” And as it turns out, the beginning is also a pretty interesting place to start, too. As it is told, “In the beginning when God created the heavens … Continued