"Faith"fully Yours

Today's post is a little long - I had the privilege of sharing the homily at Church and wanted to share my text in it's entirety: Last weekend I attended an Easter sunrise service with my family.  The preacher told some great stories and had good energy about spreading the Gospel.  However, he preached about the events of Jesus’ last days, beginning with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem right up to Jesus’ death at the hands of others.  He stopped at Holy Saturday – that empty space in time between death and resurrection.  He told us that of course we live most of our lives in Good Fridays and Holy Saturdays and didn’t move us to those Easter morning experiences we have all had. I left feeling somewhat empty or unfulfilled. As Christians we know we are living in the reign of God and we also know we are not.  Theologians refer to this as being about the reign of God already and not yet.  For me, this mystery is most evident in readings of th...

Have you gotten caught up in the “April the Giraffe” event?   It seems that this giraffe is pregnant and they have set up a “giraffe cam” for all to be able to tune in to the last weeks of her pregnancy through the birth and early days of the young giraffe (yet to be names!).   Some are avidly watching this in their every available moment, commenting freely about her movements, etc.   As an aside, I believe this is a great distraction from the many frightening cares of our world. I looked in on April last evening and she is very close to giving birth.   All her baby weight is now centered between her hips, making her very ungainly and awkward as she paces the birthing stall.   She looks as though she could split in two!   She is undergoing a seizmic shift and being rent for the sake of new life. This week, as we listen to the scriptures of Jesus arrest, death and ultimately his resurrection, we hear that at the time of Jesus’ death, the c...

I have been thinking a lot about the season of Lent as a time of conversion; a time to turn from sin and toward wholeness and new life.   My experience is that people tend to be grouped into one of two camps.   Either we are so aware of ourselves as sinful beings that we are forever seeking reconciliation and doing penance.   The awareness of the flawed human person is so prevalent that for those in this camp, it almost impossible to be aware of our innate goodness.   On the flip side, there are those of us in the camp of unfailing forgiveness and love.   For some in this camp, to see oneself as a sinner or to simply name those ways we separate ourselves from God’s love in small and big ways is hard. In which camp do you find yourself?   In recent years, I have been so focused on God’s love and care for me that I seem to have stumbled into the second camp.   When I come face to face with 40 days of being called to turn from my sins and follo...