Faith in Progress

Christmas 1 December 29, 2013 John 1:1-18               This is a dangerous time of year in my house.   My husband is a big proponent of New Year’s Resolutions.   He sits us down and talks us through things we want to accomplish in the New Year.   Things we’d like to try or get better at.   You have to be very careful what you say, because a comment that starts out “Someday I’d like to” or “I wish I could” is likely to turn into a Plan with bullet points.   This is well and good for some people.   The kind of people that really do exercise and practice their instruments every day.   The kind of people that break bad habits with ease.   But for people like me, the New Year’s Resolution exercise tends to be a reminder of how little I accomplished the previous year.   My Spanish Rosetta Stone got pretty dusty after it started throwing in past and future and imperfect tenses without any warning or explanation.   My gym going has not been as frequent as I would like.   I’d tell y

Christmas Eve 2013 We haven’t opened many Christmas presents yet this year, obviously, but we had an early celebration on Sunday with my in-laws in Charlottesville and the hit of the presents by far was this ladybug nightlight.   As soon as Maya opened it everyone stopped what they were doing and started turning off lights and experimenting with the stars on different surfaces – ceilings, faces, under the dining room table.   All of us, young and old, were fascinated.   I was instantly brought back to the romance of planetariums, leaning back in your seat to look at the stars above in the darkened room.   There is something about light shining through the darkness that just feels special, holy, even.   I think that’s what I love most about this night.   It’s dark outside, but there is just the right amount of light – the stars in the sky, the Christmas lights decorating houses and trees, candles shining on the altar.   And of course, the unforgettable light blazing the

3 Advent, Year C December 15, 2013 Isaiah 35: 1-10   Recently I took my kids to the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.   I’m probably not alone in my experience that museums are not always the best setting for young kids.   Often there is some resistance to going at all, and once there, attention spans can run pretty short.   Discussions about artistic intent and meaning tend to a hard sell.   Most often, museums produce anxiety, with my constant refrains of “NO TOUCHING!” “NO RUNNING!” “NOT SO CLOSE!” and their constant refrains of “Can we go now?” “Can I have a snack?” “I’m tired!” So the Visionary Art Museum was a complete surprise.   As soon as the kids saw the building they were hooked.   This strangely shaped place, covered with mirrored chunks of glass was like something from another world.   We walked on sidewalks decorated with murals and under a balcony transformed into a giant bird’s nest.   Inside we met Fifi, the 15 foot pink poodle made for a kinetic sculpture r

Last Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday November 23, 2008 For the morning services, this sermon included props - a chance of stoles to illustrate the color changes each season, a Godly Play wall-sized calendar of the Church year (and a child-sized helper to move the arrow) - and after each discussion of a season, we sang a verse of a hymn that expresses particularly well the theology of the season.  For the late Celtic service, there were no props or hymns and instead I added reflection questions and some silence for each season. Happy New Year’s Eve!   Or almost, anyway.   This is the last Sunday of the Church year.   Next Sunday, with the first Sunday of Advent, we’ll begin our cycle of seasons and celebrations again.               And so this seems like a good time to reflect back on the seasons that make up the Church’s year, at the same time, of course, knowing that we are also looking forward to our journey for the coming year.   We’ll do it partly through th

November 10, 2013 Pentecost 25, Proper 27, Year C Haggai 1:15b – 2:9   Last Sunday I was the storyteller in our Godly Play Sunday school room.   I heartily love Godly Play, but I have to admit that the story as written for last week is one of my least favorites.    In the story, the people of God have received the Ten Best Ways (which is Godly Play speak for the Ten Commandments).   The people know they are incredibly precious, a sign of the relationship between God and the people, and so they build a beautiful gold box to put them in.   And then they put an altar of incense in front of it.   And then they put an altar and menorah in front of that.   And then they build walls around it, and wall off the Ten Best Ways to create “the holy of holies.”   And then they hang four coverings over the roof made from precious materials.   Then they put an altar and cleansing bowl in front of the whole structure.   And then a fence around all of that.   And then they only allow priest

October 27, 2013 23 Pentecost, Proper 25 Luke 18:9-14 Are you a Pharisee or a tax collector?   It’s hard to hear this morning’s parable without thinking you need to place yourself in one of the two roles, measuring yourself against the players in the story. And most of us are so used to hearing Jesus’ stories that we know right from the first line how this is going to turn out.   It’s like when you hear the line “A lawyer and a priest walk into a bar.…”   You know a joke is coming.   And when there’s a tax collector and a Pharisee, you know a cautionary moral lesson is coming.   And you know you want to align yourself with the tax collector.   You can’t trick us, Jesus – we’re on to your sneaky stories!   We know tax collectors are beloved by God.   They are a stock character in the Gospels, representing rough-around-the-edges but ultimately repentant and humble people, right?   After all, we know Jesus’ disciple Matthew who left his tax table to follow Jesus.   We know wee