“Do I need to be a member to receive communion?” Susan asked me. She is someone who attends worship frequently at St. Mark, but is not a member. “Well, that depends on the Church,” I answered, “but here at St. Mark, you are definitely welcome to receive communion if you …
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 Where is your heart? Or as I like to ask this question, what matters most? There’s an ancient Zen saying that “the most important thing is remembering the most important thing.” Jesus seems to want us to …
The trees have come down, the carols have been retired, the sanctuary looks a bit bare (and perhaps our homes as well). It’s easy to dismiss this green season after Epiphany, one of our “ordinary times,” as fluff between Christmas and Lent. But the theme of this season, this epiphany, …
“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him…” (Luke 24:30-31a). As I ponder the themes of Luke’s Gospel during this year of Luke, I am struck by an interesting …
Technology has revolutionized the way we form community. Whereas people previously had to meet in person to congregate, social media and digital communication tools have made it possible for us to come together to form very real communities in the digital sphere with people from all over the world, transcending …
Is it me, or does it seem more than usual lately that our world is slipping into darkness? The news would certainly like us to believe so. Suffering both of the man-made and natural varieties rage around us: gun violence of epidemic proportions, devastating hurricanes and wildfires, political turmoil, white …
If your life is a garden, what’s growing in it? Imagine your life as a garden. What does it look like? What special care does it need? What do you love about it? What do you feel like is missing? What do you do to care for it? What are …