July 27, 2014 Romans 8:26-39 There’s a small silver frame that sits on one of my bookshelves at home. The frame was given to my mother on her birthday by her best friend growing up, Barbara. “Happy 60 th birthday!” is inscribed on the frame, although “birthday” is actually misspelled. The photo is of my mom and Barbara as teenagers. Barbara is sitting on a countertop and mom is standing next to her with an old fashioned phone to her ear, both dressed in 1950s casual clothes. They are both beautiful, mom with her short dark hair, with hints of the mom she would become 15 years later. When mom died it was one of the mementos that I kept. I hold tight to pieces like that. Parts of her that I didn’t know much about and wish I did. After looking at that picture for more than a decade, my family was traveling in California a few years ago and I got to meet up with Barbara for dinner. We’ve stayed in touch some since mom...
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Pentecost 5, Proper 10, Year A Matthew 13: 1-9 July 13, 2014 You may have noticed that I stopped reading the Gospel half-way through what was printed in your bulletin. There’s no mistake in the bulletin; the whole reading is intended to be part of the lectionary reading for today. And I didn’t forget to turn the page. I just don’t want you to hear it. Not yet anyway. For now, I just want you to sit on that seashore with the water lapping at your feet, taking in the sight of Jesus bobbing in that boat just a few feet away, listening to the sound of his voice sharing a story that is so simple and yet is about so many things that your mind can’t get around it. “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants w...