“The Promise of Freedom” — The story we tell ourselves about the promise of American freedom was never fully true. If we want it to become more true, if we want a story that holds the dignity, the worthiness, the humanness of everyone, then can we take the time to hear the ways the promise has … Continue reading “The Promise of Freedom”
Oceans of Being: It’s easy to go through our lives inside lines or borders that we don’t even realize are there — until someone who doesn’t fit in those borders makes us wonder why they really exist at all. 2026.0628 OOS – Oceans of Being No Children’s Chapel today or Nursery Service. The Wiggle … Continue reading Oceans of Being
Be Curious: We humans can be so different. And sometimes so certain. Maybe many of those differences will never go away. Maybe many of them shouldn’t. But how might we change the way we see those differences if we changed our frame of mind from “I know” or “I think” to “I wonder?” 2026.0531 … Continue reading “Be Curious”
This Sunday, most Christians around the world mark Palm Sunday. It is the first day of Holy Week, and a remembrance of the day crowds lined Jesus’ path into Jerusalem. What we might not recall, though, is that those crowds — in their hope for something new — did not know where that path would … Continue reading A Path to Something New
In the midst of injustice and fear for and with our neighbors, of our own personal grief and loss, a Buddhist teaching calls us to “Always maintain only a joyful mind.” Can that be right? Is it possible? Should it be possible? What would it need to mean for it to be true and wise? … Continue reading Joyful Mind, Joyful Noise
“A Talent for Truth: Sometimes it feels like there is so much injustice, so much greed, so much willful ignorance or complacency in the world — so much that there’s nothing to be done about it. Maybe one thing to do is to tell the truth, and keep telling it. Drawing on the Parable of … Continue reading A Talent for Truth
Hope is never constant. It is shaped from the pieces of our lives and of our shared interdependent existence. And sometimes it is shattered, and we reshape those pieces into something new. 2025.1214 OOS – Hope in Pieces Children’s programs (Nursery and Children’s Chapel) are up and running. Click this link to join the service: https://zoom.us/j/99358411229?pwd=eGU2RUNiS0lFNjdyZlFMOVZITEhCdz09. … Continue reading Hope in Pieces
Some years back, gratitude became all the rage. A whole industry popped up around it. Gratitude journals and retreats. Daily lists of the gifts – big and small – we are blessed to have and receive. That’s good, as far as it goes. But what if that shape of gratitude is incomplete, only part of … Continue reading “Thanks Anyway”
“Breathe Out Peace: We are connected to each other, interdependent with every person in Creation and with Creation itself. If those threads of connection are going to sustain us — rather than pull us down together — we’ll need to feed them with possibility, with peace, with compassion and love. Not in a naive ignorance … Continue reading Breathe Out Peace
“Get centered,” we’re told. “Find your center.” Spiritually, emotionally, mentally, even physically – centering can give us a sense of balance. But what are we centering in? And what – or who – gets pushed to the margins when we settle into our comfortable center? And what might open up if we let ourselves fall … Continue reading Losing Our Center
