Sermon for Christmas, Proper I, 2024. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness–on them light has shined.” Happy Christmas! What a warm and wonderful time and place to be together. The opening of our service in darkness […]
Reflections for my sermon on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. Amen. The Gospels tell us surprisingly little about Mary. (And in point of […]
Reflections for my sermon on the Third Sunday of Advent, 2024. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” When I was growing up, this time of year was the best time of the year. We were […]
My reflection and substance of the sermon preached for the Second Sunday of Advent 2024. When I was an undergrad, Cornell had very few courses on the New Testament, but I took all that I could find. Several were taught within the English department by Professor Bishop. He was an […]
Reflections for my sermon on the First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2024. “There will be signs,” Jesus said. All around us there are signs, indications that the season has fully changed. The leaves have turned and fallen, the weather is very cold, and here in our sanctuary, in the church the […]
This year’s Society of Biblical Literature meeting was special for me as I completed my second (and final) three-year term as a member of Council. The last six years have been eventful, to say the least. In that time there have been debates (and complaints) about having to print our […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” Knowledge is a flexible term. In some languages, like German, you can have several different words which all track to a single, meager, “to know” in English. You might know a person at work, you can know a fact about the world, […]
Here is a tip I could not find it anywhere on the interwebs. My Apple Pencil (which I use extensively to highlight PDFs while reading in Endnote and other apps) stopped working. The iPad could see it, knew it was there, fully charged, but when I went to write, highlight, […]
I have a confession. Until recently, I had not read C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. I know, hard to believe, right? Especially for a kid from an evangelical background, but the truth is, I found the constant analogies annoying. I would get a chapter or two into it and my […]
Wendell Berry, Sabbath Poems, 1982. VII The clearing rests in song and shade. It is a creature made By old light held in soil and leaf, By human joy and grief, By human work, Fidelity of sight and stroke, By rain; by water on The parent stone. We join our work to Heaven’s gift, Our hope to what is […]