It’s impossible to escape rivers. Every square inch of land is in some type of watershed, and nearly every person lives within a mile of some kind of river or stream, providing things necessary for life. Rivers also connect us with each other, as conduits for transportation and culture. In our gospel reading today, Jesus […]
Have you heard the call of the wild? Some things can only be experienced and learned in the liminal space of the wilderness, where we are not in control. “Wilderness school” is what Dan Erlander calls the Israelites’ forty years of wandering before they could enter the promised land. But even in that wilderness, God […]
We think of land as something on which we walk about, but it is so much more than just the stage for our own actions. Because God made the first human out of the dust of the ground, the earth is like our relative, our surrogate parent, and we are always connected to it. Today […]
The Holy Spirit sings and whispers in the orchestra of the forest, sharing a song of deep love and connection. Trees were created by God as siblings and partners alongside of human beings in the book of Genesis. As we look for the ways the gospel is written in creation, we hear the good news […]
What’s wrong with this picture? So much seems to be unusual, surreal or just plain bizarre in today’s gospel reading. Jesus ignores and rejects the request of a woman in need, only to then demonstrate the change of heart that God calls all of us to undergo. What’s right in this picture is the woman’s […]
What do you consider impossible? For you? For others? For God? Jesus walks on water in today’s gospel reading, but before you know it, Peter’s out there too, taking a few steps before he panicks and starts to sink. Was he too distracted? Too afraid? Too doubtful? Maybe it was something else. Maybe this was […]
What are you truly hungry for? What do you most need in order to be fully alive? The parables of the mustard seed and yeast come to life as Jesus provides food and healing to thousands of people from only a tiny bit of food offered by the disciples. While we cannot fix people in […]
Why did Jesus say the things he said? Why did he teach about the kingdom of heaven in the code language of parables? In today’s gospel Jesus offers everyday images that reveal to us the reign of God: a tree that becomes a sheltering home, yeast that penetrates and expands, a treasured pearl, a net […]
It is an age-old question: why is there evil in the world? In the parable of the wheat and the weeds, Jesus suggests that both grow together until the harvest. Perhaps we are more like wildflowers—some good, some bad, mostly both depending on your perspective. Having both weeds and wheat within us, we humbly place […]
God’s word is like the rain that waters the earth and brings forth vegetation. It is also like the sower who scatters seed indiscriminately. We are like the soil, ever-changing in our response, but God never gives up on us. Even from what appears to be little, dormant, or dead, God promises a harvest and […]