I have recently been having trouble keeping track of my glasses. Just before I went for a personal retreat to Christ in the Desert in mid-March, I remember choosing to take my plastic frames and to leave the metal ones at home. Haven’t seen the metal frames since. I’ve turned the house upside down, no joy. Then, after a trip to Texas, I couldn’t find my prescription sunglasses. This is a hassle because I cannot read the GPS in the car without them. We did a wonderful roa

In my sermon for the First Sunday of Advent at Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland, I “outed” myself as a mystic. Clearly not a FAMOUS mystic, but I do have mystical tendencies, value the teachings of Christian mystics (in particular) and I have embraced a number of spiritual practices that are often labeled “good for mystics”. My journey with mysticism began when I was introduced to the great medieval Christian mystic Hildegard von Bingen. Hildegard’s life and writing,

God will find a way to let us know that God is with us in this place, wherever we are, however far we think we’ve run. And maybe that’s one reason we worship — to respond to grace. We praise God not to celebrate our own faith but to give thanks for the faith God has in us. To let ourselves look at God, and let God look back at us. And to laugh, and sing, and be delighted because God has called us God’s own. – Kathleen Norris in Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith Being

The Earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine. – James Irwin, American astronaut Early this morning, at 3:12 a.m. PST, we went through the winter solstice and our longest night of the year. The December solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. In oth

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. ~George Elliot ‘Tis the season for angels, angels, angels! We sing songs about angels, read stories about angels, we make angels in the snow, and of course, we put angel images everywhere. On cookies, in frames, frozen in sculpture, molded in chocolate, and then we even impale them on decorated trees. Most of the angel im

Guilt is only useful insofar as it points to a change that you can make. Otherwise just let it go. – Beverly Wildung Harrison, (1932-2012) feminist Christian ethicist, professor, and scholar Just how much do you let God be God? I admit that I’m not very good at doing the “let go and let God” thing. I was raised to be independent and self-reliant with several helpings of Texas stubborn swirled in to boot. But my heart stood still when Bev Harrison made the comment above in

The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenements halls and whispered in the sounds of silence. – Paul Simon, 20th century German theologian Dorothee Söelle, in her brilliant book, Suffering, describes silence as the surest sign of despair. Healing from such profound suffering begins with speech. When we are finally able to name the source of our suffering and despair, it begins to lose its’ power to paralyze and mute our lives. The culture that Jesus

We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture? Then, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of God is begotten in us. Meister Eckhart, 14th century

Of God’s love we can say two things: it is poured out universally for everyone from the Pope to the loneliest wino on the planet; and secondly, God’s love doesn’t seek value, it creates value. It is not because we have value that we are loved, but because we are loved that we have value. Our value is a gift, not an achievement. – William Sloane Coffin in Credo A number of years ago I used to have office space at a church in San Francisco that had been built in the early

Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.” – Oren Arnold (1900-1980), journalist, essayist, and writer As Christmas draws near, there are so many emotions and memories that begin to pop up. I remember loved ones who have died (especially those who passed during the holidays like my father, my uncle, and my great -and