At the beginning of this series, I introduced the River of Life exercise—a creative way to reflect on your story by imagining your life as a river. Later today, during Coffee Fellowship, I’m going to invite you to actually try it: …to sketch the bends and turns of your journey—places you’ve lived, people and moments that shaped you, and even the waterfalls you somehow made it through. It’s a reminder that none of our lives are stagnant. The only true constant is change—we are

"It’s a Delicate Balance" by Christi Belcourt ( Métis - apihtâwikosisâniskwêw / mânitow sâkahikanihk ), 2021. This past week, I traveled to Fort Collins to attend an event called “Everything Done in a Good Way,”  a collaboration between the Native Memory Project—an organization dedicated to preserving stories and traditions for future generations—and Council Tree Covenant Church. Over two days, members of a delegation from the Wind River Indian Reservation led us in ceremon

"The Beatitudes" by Kelly Latimore Icons. A few weeks ago, I introduced to you all the River of Life exercise.  The idea is to draw your life journey as a river.  For each key Life Events, you add landmarks like: Islands  for places you have lived.  Tributaries  for people or events that flowed into your life.  And Waterfalls for challenging or difficult times. If we were to imagine the story of ancient Israel, as a river, we might imagine that during the time of Micah, the

This past Monday, I received notice of a national call to clergy—an invitation to travel to Minneapolis to take part in a day of action protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ongoing Operation Metro Surge. As many of you have likely seen in the news, this operation represents a significant escalation in ICE’s tactics. Alongside that, escalation has been a coordinated effort by the federal administration to obscure the truth about what is actually happening on the gr

At the height of the summer of 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream.”  Nearly 200,000 people—Black and white—traveled by plane, train, bus, car and on foot to take part in the March on Washington. They gathered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, remembering that in the century prior, President Lincoln had begun the work of ending 250 years of American slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation.  On that day, the crowd gathered to l

Jerzy Nowosielski (Polish, 1923–2011), The Baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan, 1964. In the Beginning…  In the very beginning— before light, before land, before anything— there was water. Deep. Formless. Chaotic. And alive with possibility. Scripture tells us that the Spirit of God hovered over those waters—a breath,  a wind, a loving presence waiting to bring something beautiful into being. And then God began to speak. God separated the waters above from the waters below.

Checkpoint crossings are an inescapable part of life for Palestinians living in the West Bank. Every morning before dawn, about 70,000 Palestinians from across the occupied West Bank pass through one of eleven Israeli military checkpoints on their way to work. They carry time-restricted permits that grant entry for the day, then require them to return home before the end of the day.  The lines of workers are funneled into cage-like lanes—overcrowded, humiliating spaces that l

When was the last time you felt true, uninhibited joy? Not happiness. Not a fleeting good mood. But the kind of full-body joy that sends vibrations through your arms and legs.  The kind that lifts your chest and straightens your spine—or leaves you doubled over in laughter.  When you can’t help but smile. . Perhaps it was during a visit with a dear friend.  Or at the birth of a new family member.  Maybe it found you on a long hike in the sunshine, or during a quiet, solo camp

If we were to believe the President’s social media feed... this has been a BIG week for world peace. First, on Wednesday, the Department of State announced that the US Institute of Peace would now be called “the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace."  Founded as an independent, non-profit think tank funded by Congress, the institute's mission is to research and teach the promotion of international peace and conflict resolution.  But, since his second term began, Trump has moved

The first time I preached an Advent sermon was December 2023.  It was a difficult task for a young preacher. Not just because I was new, but also because every pastor was preaching in the shadow of terrible violence. First, the devastating massacre of 1200 Israeli civilians by Palestinian militants on October 7. Then the horrific military assault unleashed by the Israeli government on the people of Gaza. By the time I was to give my sermon in early December, the Palestinian

Scripture Reading for the day — Romans 12 If you’ve ever received an email from me, you may have noticed this quote at the bottom of my signature. “We have all known the long loneliness, and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” This quote comes from the autobiography of American journalist, social activist, and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, Dorothy Day. Born in 1897, Dorothy Day spent her early adulthood immersed in

In the summer of 1954, Pauli Murray—civil rights lawyer, activist, and writer—arrived at the prestigious MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire as an artist-in-residence. At 43 years old, Murray had come to work on what would become her first autobiography, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family.  The book tells the remarkable, true story of Murray's own family through enslavement, survival, and interracial family histories in the South from the pre-Civil War era through Rec

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37 Have you ever had a really good neighbor?  Growing up, mine was Denise.  She was the mom two doors down, who always made her house open to us neighborhood kids. Around her table, we shared tamales and Thanksgiving dinner, played Mexican train, and did art projects late into the night. She made us laugh endlessly. She was someone my mom could ask to pick us up from school if we got sick. I trusted her like I trusted my own parents. How about you? Who c

Scripture Readings: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4, Luke 19:1-10 Today’s first scripture reading comes from the little-known prophet Habakkuk. Unlike most prophets, Habakkuk does not address Israel’s sin or call the people back to God’s ways. Instead, he speaks from his own struggle to hold onto faith in a world filled with injustice and suffering. He asks,  How can I believe in a God of justice when there is so much injustice? So much violence? So much chaos?  Habakkuk prophesied aro

Gifts from Creator Tells the Good Story (Matthew) 28:18-20 (First Nations Version) It was now time for Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to return to the spirit-world above. It had now been forty days since he had come back to life again. So he gathered his followers, one last time, to give them their final instruction. 16 The remaining eleven of his followers journeyed to Circle of Nations (Galilee). There, at the mountain where Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had told them to go, they m

Two weeks ago, today, I was sitting in the pews of a very different church. The Feast of St. Francis at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine is a New York City icon. Thousands of people come from across all five boroughs and beyond to have their pets blessed in honor of Saint Francis, the patron saint of animals, and to experience all the wild joy of this spectacular event.  At the service’s midpoint, the crowd of nearly 3,000 people fell silent, eagerly awaiting what we’re a

A couple of years ago, I worked for a summer as a hospital chaplain in a very large, and very busy university hospital.  As I entered a patient’s room,  I would always get a flutter of nervousness—Is this the right room? What was their name? Their condition? Outside their door, I would silently prepare myself for whatever our conversation might hold.  On one particular visit, those butterflies followed me in. I’d been paged to this room—which usually meant the patient’s need

Well, folks. I’m glad to see you all here this morning. I was half-worried the sanctuary would be empty today… Turns out the rapture...

My husband worked for USAID for almost 30 years in Honduras, Panama, Pakistan, The Dominican Republic, and Ukraine. His career promoted...

Have you ever felt like a lost cause? I don’t ask that glibly or as a joke—I mean it sincerely. I wonder, have you ever felt like a lost...