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“Why are you weeping?” Jesus speaks to Mary Magdalene, a woman conjecture and gossip made a prostitute, not the truth of scripture.   Easter’s shining morn has broken. The tomb filled by death night before now stands vacant.   At first, Mary does not recognize Jesus.   Then she turns astonished for death cannot hold the power of God.   Some will say God changed. They will argue the Old Testament God of wrath was replaced with the New Testament God of mercy, grace and love. Pe

Historically, a feature that often shows up for some people during troubled eras is an increasing obsession with predictions regarding the “end times,” or events surrounding the end of the world.   In our current difficulties and hard times, this concern has been heightened because of the war with Iran and reports of some US military leaders connecting the war as presaging, or even triggering, the “rapture,” the physical return of Jesus, and the end of the world.   Last week

O lovely Christ who  breathed life anew  into a child’s still form O lonely Christ who  endured agony and suffering  not just from the cross  but because of empathy  with Your beloved world still O lively Christ who  calls and commands, who  invites and admonishes  our leaving familiar,  habitual prejudice  to follow playfully,  lovingly, sometimes  doubtfully, traumatically,  through need and brokenness, finally to wholeness and home in You   O LORD   On this holy day when y

I sit at the Church of St. Agnes, images of the Holy Family all around. It is an oasis of quietness and reflection on East 43rd Street near New York’s Grand Central Station. Candles create soft light, as they burn placed in neat rows on tables set against the walls and near the door to the Confessional. Artful images of the Stations of the Cross, Stations near the Station, so to speak, surround me. The image of the Cross is here, too. People sit near me, some kneel, pilgrims

“Who is this Christ, who interferes in everything?” These words were written by the Austrian poet and novelist, Rainer Maria Rilke, who...

Every now and then, I feel a kinship to Cleopas, the disciple who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus on the first Easter morning. I...

Sometimes the world crashes in and all you can do is try to hold on and pray, especially when you are the human being afflicted by the...

(First posted on Aug 16, 2021) Hate may fill the hole in a wounded soul, but just for a while. It may fire a sense of purpose and drive....

What the apostle Paul looked like no one really knows, though artists and forensic archeologists have made educated guesses based on his...

*In this post, I offer two readings about grief. The first describes a meaningful, personal experience from an earlier time in my life in...

Seeing something real and true and how it should be can change a person forever. I take it that is what happened to the disciples who...

It’s usually at this point in Lent that I am ready to turn and run toward Easter. The disciplines of prayer, reflection, confession and...

While some of the details of how Christians came to be called “Christians” are lost to time, thanks to the work of biblical scholars,...

One of my favorite architectural features of the Freemason Street Baptist Church is the inclusion of large arched windows, stained glass,...

Is it enough to proclaim and celebrate the Love of God that is Jesus Christ as the antidote for hate in our time and in all times? What...

Growing up Baptist, I grew up unfamiliar with the ancient Christian practice of Lent. For me, living in predominately Roman Catholic...

A favorite practice of the community I served in South Carolina, was the annual series of Lent and Advent luncheon services shared by the...

“[Some say that] only by denying the world can you live in it…  can you live a spiritual life. A real spiritual life does exactly the...

Welcome to the most dangerous season of the year.   The most dangerous season? Why?   Not because of marauding bands of “Black Friday”...

(Note: Inspired by and written for the Center Of Hope Haiti, on our 20th Anniversary gathering and celebration, October 30, 2024. In...