In my sermon last week I talked about Christian joy. I said that Christian joy is a mysterious combination of comfort and longing. Christian joy rejoices in our experiences of the grace and love of God. But, since God’s love revealed in Jesus is a risky and costly love, there is a sense in which […]

If you are new to the Episcopal Church you might have wondered why we light a pink candle on our Advent wreath today.  This practice began in Rome during the early centuries of the church. The pink candle symbolizes the theme of joy amidst the more somber mood of Advent. In the Anglican tradition, this […]

(Note: The lessons from Isaiah and Mark address what it means to live in a state of spiritual “exile,” where, in response to painful losses in our lives, we tend to adapt to our surroundings rather than do the hard work of remembering, acknowledging and then surrendering these losses to God so that, by God’s […]

Several years ago, when our family was living in San Antonio, Ann and I went to hear James Taylor, one of our favorite singers. One of the songs he sang, which was from his most recent recording, told the story of the death of a close friend. The words, like the words to several of […]