About



Heather Blais (she/her) lives in Western Massachusetts with her family, cats, and chickens. She serves as Rector of the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew, a newly emerging parish in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Heather is passionate about her local food cooperative, loves improv, and enjoys traveling with her family. Getting Lost in the Woods is where she share stories, sermons, and reflections of getting lost and found. 


Blessings for the Journey



 

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Swords to Plowshares

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Yesterday, our family joined folks from across our diocese for an event they co sponsored with Christ Trinity, Sheffield; St. Paul’s Stockbridge; Grace, Great Barrington; and Swords to Plowshares Northeas t. The Rt. Rev. Jim Curry, a retired Bishop Suffragan in Connecticut is the chief blacksmith for Swords to Plowshares. This ministry was inspired by the prophet Isaiah, who proclaimed: “...they shall beat their swords into ploughshares…” (2:4) Their organization works with local police departments, taking guns that have been bought back from the community and then turning them into garden tools. What we witnessed yesterday was beautiful, and I will tell you why, but first, I want to share why I think addressing gun violence matters so much. For me, it’s always been personal. My father was an avid hunter. He was also an alcoholic, whose disease took over his life during the course of my early childhood. When I was four years old, my mom came home from her shift at the naval air stati
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Commissioned

In today’s gospel lesson we witness the apostles’ transition from students to interns.  They have abandoned their former lives as fisherfolk and tax collectors to learn from Jesus as he engages in the work of proclaiming the good news of God’s love across the region.  In what may have been one of the most terrifying moments of their lives, Jesus commissioned these twelve apostles to the work of preaching, teaching, and healing. Jesus gives the apostles some parting instructions:   First, their work should only focus on their fellow Jewish neighbors.  The work of sharing the good news with the Gentiles, those outside the Jewish community, will come later.  Second, they don’t need to pack anything.  Instead they are to rely on the hospitality of those they encounter along the way.   Third, they will meet resistance as they spread the message of God’s love.   Some are going to feel threatened, particularly those with power and privilege to lose.  They may be brought before governors; they
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Why Our Buildings Just Don't Matter

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As appears in Episcopal Church Foundation's Vital Practices This past weekend I had the chance to visit a parish a lot like the one I currently serve. The property featured a beautiful and inspiring church with a cozy chapel; an enormous rectory, and several buildings that made up the parish house. You can imagine the complex must have been truly grand in its day. Yet inside the church pews are no longer full; and outside the neighborhood is facing the challenges of economic hardship: poverty, hunger, and homelessness. Many of the day-to-day conversations seem to have a recurring theme: the building. How to raise funds to care for the building instead of spending down the endowment? How to get more volunteers to care for the building? How to best utilize the space and bring more of the community into the building?  So much of the faith community’s time, energy, and financial resources are poured into their beautiful buildings . This Sunday’s Gospel is the story of Jesus and the ric
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