As many of you know, my family and I had a big move over the summer–we moved from our little spot up north in Amesbury into the beautiful parsonage on Marshall Street in July. And as any of you who have moved know, packing up our house meant going through a lot of basement boxes–I had squirreled away at least ten sizeable bins marked “keepsakes” which meant a solid week of sorting. And we did this with our daughters, now 12 and 14, who gave Jason and I a hefty amount of teen snark over how...
Sermons
“The Heart of the Matter” – September 26th, 2021
My hope this morning is that those beautiful words of Rumi’s–thank you Ben for bringing them to life–my hope is that you were able to welcome them in, in some small way. For they are blessing words–for each and every one of us. An invitation to know ourselves as rubies embedded in granite. Let us stop pretending, stop insisting this to not be true! I would add, for this is my struggle–forgetting this to be true. And we need the great prophets, the Rumis–Divine messengers–to remind us of this....
“Practicing Rest” – September 19th, 2021
Our theme this month is possibility. Which, in my mind, can’t be fully considered without reflecting on what feels impossible. And I was thinking on this over the week and it brought to mind a great woman I have the honor of calling friend–who taught me about the possible that can be unearthed in and out of the seemingly impossible. Five years ago I worked as a Chaplain at a long-term health care facility called Hebrew Senior Life–not too far from here in Dedham. And what made Hebrew Senior...
“Returning to the Well” – September 12th, 2021
“You could be the water…you could be the water…” You know, when that poem found its way to me about a year ago, I did not feel like the water. It was actually around this very time last September–the beginning of the church year. Didn’t we all think back in March 2020 that surely we would be able to gather come September? It was also the beginning of the school year–surely, surely, this thing isn’t going to last more than a few months we told ourselves in April…And there we all were sitting in...
Singing at the Bedside of the Dying – August 23, 2020
For the thirty years after my father passed, I had talked to myself and others about wanting to work as a hospice volunteer in some capacity. When my mother passed a few years ago, the urge to work with hospice patients was reawakened once again. I knew I had some skills I could lend to an organization by offering administrative support, but I really wanted to do something that would allow me to engage more directly with patients and their families. As a singer/guitarist, I thought that...
Fair Is Not Always Equal – August 16, 2020
Before I begin my homily, I invite you to participate in an art activity. Today’s story,It’s Okay to be Different, is appealing for many reasons, one of which is Todd Parr’s bold and accessible art style. The beauty of the illustrations lie in their simplicity. The differences of the characters are presented simply and boldly to be celebrated. For this activity, if you were to add a page to the story about yourself, what would it say? What would the illustration look like? Why? I invite you...
Making Do: When What You Need is What You Have – August 9, 2020
An exploration of the spiritual practice of making the most out of resources that are in hand.
Conflicting Feelings – August 2, 2020
Good Morning! I gave myself a hair cut for the occasion. I’ll take it on faith that at least one person laughed at that. Has anyone else watched the late shows and laughed at a joke and wondered why no one else was laughing? It’s a totally different experience when there is no live audience agreeing with me. I wanted to talk today about conflicting feelings and emotions and choosing to change our attitudes and perceptions. When this quarantine and new way of life began I found myself planning...
The Magical, Mystical, Wonderful World of Trees – July 26, 2020
This reflection was presented with a slideshow of photographs by Carole Smith Berney. My Favorite Trees Many of you may know me as a nature and wildlife photographer. But did you know that I’m a “tree hugger”? Meaning, I love trees, their diversity, strength, beauty, graceful forms, and the benefits they bring to us. From my early years, trees have had special meaning for me. So, here comes a story about how I met some favorites. Once upon a time, as a young teenager, I would climb up and sit...
Poetry Potluck – July 19, 2020
Welcome! This morning's service is a Poetry Potluck - in which you are all invited to join the feast by bringing your favorite dish - in this case poetry - and sharing the poetic nutrition that feeds us - feeds our sense of wonder and mystery, feeds our soul, feeds our sense of shared community: sacred and profane, moving us to tears or making us laugh. Robert Frost wrote that great poetry “begins as a lump in the throat . . a homesickness, a lovesickness.” Poetry stirs something you can’t...