“I am not just burning my mask however. I am using that as a symbol of transformation, a way to remind myself and those around me that the journey of Lent is preparing us for the beauty of Easter Sunday. So how will I accomplish this? This year, by creating artwork from the ashes.”

“I wish that throughout my middle years I had been more aware, so that I wasn’t now trucking pile after pile of things I don’t need to the dumpster and ultimately to the landfill.  It’s sobering and embarrassing.”

“The Chinese martyrs were women doing what they were convinced God wanted them to do and, with strong faith, faced death without cringing or wavering. Most of us will never face such persecution or death for our beliefs. Still, Jesus won’t let us simply skate along, acting as part-time or even pretend-to-be-Christians.”

“Now, in reading today’s Gospel in commemoration of Martin Luther, one could easily fall into thinking that the “pruning” and “casting into the fire” that’s being referred to here is about tossing heretics and apostates into the flames of hell.”

“The power of this gospel reading is found in its promise of abundance at the very end: if we live a generous life toward others, we ourselves will find an abundance beyond measure, so much that it spills out of our cupped hands and into our laps.”

“Because here’s the truth: we are all God’s masterpieces. We have been created in love to love and to be loved. There’s nothing we have to do or be – only rest in the name God places on us, beloved child of God.”

“Leaves and acorn caps crunch underneath my feet as the words from the sermon come through my airpods: ‘I can’t not remember the 20th century display of Emmett Till’s brutalized body when George Floyd’s 21st century body is strangled on international television.'”

“The realm of emotion is also a place of fickleness.  Sometimes I feel God’s presence there and sometimes I have only ashes in my heart.  I can feel a deep joy in a melody, the winging of a goose over the rooftops, the prisms in a snowflake.  But just as quickly I can be crushed by loss, fear or illness.”

“Paul may drive me nuts periodically, but there are times he seems to have hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head. It’s simple. And it is probably why so many people flocked to become members of the group that practiced this radical form of life.”

“Admittedly, 
I skip this one sometimes
when I’m saying the Daily Office
because it’s just too heavy
on the days I don’t need more heavy.”