John 15:1-5 In the southwestern United States, there is a tree that grows where almost nothing else can: the Cottonwood. It is considered a sacred tree by Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples, in part because of its branches. If you cut a branch, you will see the shape of a star in its center. There is […]
Sermons
Faith Like a Fungus
Deuteronomy 10:17-19; Ephesians 3:14-21 A few Sundays ago, in my meditation, I talked about Quaking Aspen trees– how their leaves quake in response to the slightest breeze, how they are connected through their roots. I mentioned the Pando grove in Utah, where 40,000 trees all share one root system. At the time, it seemed an […]
Dirt Under My Fingernails
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some […]
Forty Thousand Quaking Aspen
Jeremiah 17:17-18; Romans 12:9-18 “Look!” Fran pointed to a hillside full of trees–tall slender white-barked trunks, green-yellow leaves that seemed, from a distance, to be constantly changing color. “They’re Aspen trees,” she explained. “They’re called Quaking Aspen. See how the leaves move in the wind?” I squinted my eyes and looked more closely. That’s why […]
Shining
Matthew 17:1-21 It was still dark as we climbed the stairs onto the flat rooftop. We laid out our mats and stood still as statues, facing east. Slowly, we raised our arms to the heavens. Even more slowly we lowered them in an arc, bending down to touch the concrete roof. We continued with the […]
Redefining Perfection
Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Matthew 5:21-26, 43-48 I have this image in my mind of the Sermon on the Mount; I don’t know where it comes from. Gentle Jesus is sitting cross-legged on top of a hill. His followers are seated around him—crowds that extend all the way down the hill. Jesus has a tender, compassionate look […]
Absorb, Reflect, Refract
Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 5:13-16 “I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am.” On Wednesday, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah introduced his explanation of his impeachment trial vote with these words about his faith. He went on to say that he takes an oath made before God to be “enormously […]
Following
Matthew 4:12-23 Picture this…eight days, four people, stuffed into a small rental car, traveling on narrow, winding roads through the foothills to the Alps. I start today with this story. In the fall of 1992, I took a trip with my parents to Switzerland. Our lives were in this unsettled, liminal kind of time. […]
Chosen
Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 “The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me…to be my servant…to bring Jacob back to me…to be a light to the nations.” “I, Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ…” “You are my son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” […]
Torn Open
Isaiah 64:1-12; Matthew 3:13-17 “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down.” Isaiah–probably the prophet we call 3rd Isaiah–wrote these anguished words in a time of national crisis, about 530 years before Jesus. The leaders of Judea had suffered in exile in Babylon, what is now Iraq, for a half century. The […]