Getting Lost in the Woods

  Have you ever found yourself putting one foot in front of the other, unsure of where exactly you are going, but certain you must be going   someplace ? While walking in nearby woods, I often will stumble upon unexplored side trails.  My curiosity piqued, I’ll venture down the new path and find myself getting lost in the woods.  If after several minutes have passed, I feel more lost then the last time I paused to find my bearings, I’ll decide whether to return the way I came or forge ahead, trusting the path will deliver me someplace recognizable. Some days I courageously forge ahead, others I stand stuck, unsure of what to do, and still other days I retreat from the overwhelming unknown.   When I am uncertain of where I am going, I know God is with me.  Particularly when I am too distracted by my own internal noise to feel God’s presence. As I journey onward, I put one foot in front of the other and the internal noise softens as a steady calm and cla...

  On the day of Resurrection, most of the disciples were gathered together in one house.   They were still mulling over the news that Jesus’ body had been removed from the tomb, when Mary came bursting in, announcing she had ‘seen the Lord’ .   Yet instead of rejoicing, the disciples got up, and locked the doors.  They were afraid.  Maybe they were afraid this was some cruel power move by leaders at the Temple, in order to finally put an end to the Jesus Movement.  Maybe they were afraid that Mary, in her grief, had completely lost her mind.  Maybe they were afraid that it was true.  What does it mean to see the dead rise? What were the disciples supposed to do now?  This information overwhelmed them, terrified them.  Like children afraid of the shadows moving in their room at night, they closed their eyes, and pretended nothing was happening. We can likely all relate to that feeling.   Being so afraid of the unknown, of the possibl...

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...