pharisees and sadducees | Rows of Sharon

Proper 27C – Pentecost 25
Haggai 1:15b–2:9
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Luke 20:27-38

This past Wednesday evening, I, like many of you, was in front of the television for the seventh game of the World Series. Besides being a stressful, nail biter of a game, what remains with me was what happened before the game even started. The Cleveland Orchestra’s String Section performed the national anthem with the crowd singing in unison. One voice comprised of thousands. It made me feel how baseball unites, bringing opposing teams together for the good of the sport. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that sense of pride in humanity.

Not much has been uniting in America these past weeks and months. The vitriol, fact-checking for truth or lies, fear mongering, and incivility of this election season has led to a significant amount of stress in over half of the adults in this country. I know I feel it. I want Tuesday to be over with; but I’m afraid that no matter what, Wednesday will not be any better.

I will be working the polls on Tuesday in Norwalk and this past week attended training as required by the State of Connecticut. We were told that security will be stepped up more than ever; the 75-foot rule will be monitored closely; intimidation can be expected. And we can expect to have lines from 6AM to beyond 8PM. We were told to prepare for lack of civility and a very long day. I don’t remember hearing these messages in over forty years of exercising my right to vote.

What can today’s Scripture say to us? How can we remain faithful to our beliefs, witnessing to a different way of being than what we are seeing in our society today? Continue reading Faith and Civil Discourse →

17th Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 15, Year C

Hebrews 11:29-12:2 and Luke 12:49-56

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.

As a child I remember that saying from my mother and grandmother, whether it was an accurate weather prediction or not. Today we can get up-to-the-minute weather forecasts 24-hours a day, with Doppler radar down to the most local detail. But we know that the Weather Channel is not always accurate. Winds shift, fronts stall, and global warming has thrown all the averages out the window. Al Roker is not infallible. While he may tell us if it will partly sunny or partly cloudy in the five-day forecast, he can’t interpret the effect it will have on our plans or what we will do tomorrow.

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Continue reading Weather Forecasting →