There is a white marble statue near Trafalgar Square in London. It is the statue of Nurse Edith Cavell. She was tied to a stake in German-occupied Belgium in 1915 and shot as a traitor. The daughter of a pastor, she had for many years headed a nursing home in Belgium, and she remained there…
June 29 – The Unfortunate Preoccupation with Faith Testing
The story of Abraham and Isaac both fascinates and abhors. The choir sings, "what wondrous love is this" immediately following this reading, and you have to ask -- huh? What are you doing, Peter? If this is what you say love is about -- no thanks. How, we ask ourselves, could a loving God be…
June 19 – Summer Livin'
The title to my sermon this morning is an allusion to one of the great american lullabies written by George Gerswhin -- Summertime. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7-Qa92Rzbk] Summertime and the livin's easy The fish are jumpin And the cotton is high. Oh, your daddy's rich And your momma's good lookin' So hush you little baby Don't you cry.…
May 22 — Im/Perfect Ministers
On Thursday I had the delightful opportunity to meet with three individuals who are currently serving UCC congregations in Vermont and have approached the ministerial standing and standards committee on which I serve about becoming ordained. The interesting thing about this meeting is that these three will not be attending seminary. The reason Thursdays meeting…
June 12 — On Baptism, Wild Geese and Hunger Walks
So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the…