Edith struggled to find inner peace after the death of her child. She grieved that she could not have any more children, and she wanted her life to count for something...

As a high school senior, I was busy planning for college but feeling cut off from my friends. One winter evening, after being snubbed by a classmate, I felt sad and...

Pentecost Sunday is the day Christians around the world celebrate as the birthday of the church. We read about “the rush of a violent wind” and the “divided tongues, as of...

I sometimes wonder if we focus so much on the bewilderment and amazement of the crowd at Pentecost that we do not contemplate the effect of the Spirit on the early...

In wisdom you have made them all.” This psalm sings to me of the diversity of creation and the diversity and inclusiveness of Pentecost. Everything and everyone created by God is...

Whenever I read this portion of John’s Gospel, I try to put myself in the shoes of the disciples. Jesus has been saying good-bye for a while. How frightful it must...

The psalmist says God “touches the mountains and they smoke.” I grew up at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and we often visited the Great Smoky Mountains along the...

We often say that preaching should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. How often though do you think of the Spirit as the afflicter? We translate the Greek word Paraclete...

Waiting is hard. Waiting for God is particularly difficult, especially as the whole of creation seems to groan in pain. We hear of violence, political unrest, and injustice all around us....

As I engage the world outside my parish, I often hear the stories of spiritually curious skeptics and those hostile to all things spiritual. Folks frequently say that what they see...