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Time….. deep thoughts when your watch breaks

This past Sunday my watch broke.

I found myself carrying my phone around and checking it for the time (isn’t that a statement of our times!?)… I found myself curious about where we were in time, how much longer.

And yes, that was on All Saints’ Sunday.

As people of faith, we mark time.

We live in a liturgical year. Seasons are marked by liturgical events. Some correspond with Calendar dates, some correspond with the Lunar Calendar (Ah, Easter/Passover). Biblically time is marked  by 40’s (days for Jesus in the wilderness and Noah on the ark, and 40 years in the wilderness for Moses). We can think of the  7 days of creation and even the number 12. We mark the  three days after Good Friday, the 50 days after Easter, the four weeks of advent, the 12 days of Christmas. 

We are constantly marking time. Last week in particular my time was marked as a bible study that started the first week we closed the church completed a 31 chapter book. One week at a time, we marked our weeks with a small gathering to talk about the message of hope even in trying times.

We are marking time differently in these pandemic days, perhaps no one other than Dr Fauci knew we were going to be counting time like this for so long.

With hope and lament we realize the differences from now and March. 

We recognize with sadness that we cannot do everything that we might want to do and when we might want to do it.

Reflecting back in our bible study, we realized we have had some rough times. We have lost members of our community and we have also had new beginnings, births, weddings, baptisms. New little Joys that we savor and treasure. 

We know that we are never alone.

As we enter the month of November we journey towards an American holiday of Thanksgiving and our culture emphasizes gratitude.

We are also living in an election season. A time of waiting and process and potential dispute.

The Days are shorter and the nights longer here in the Northern hemisphere, it’s easy to only see the darkness.

In the christian faith tradition, we light candles as we prepare for Christmas. Our Jewish brothers and sisters light candles for Chanukah, celebrating triumph in trying times. In the season of Advent we hear a lot about light shining in the darkness, reminding us we are never alone we are never without help. 

In this season, remember to reach out.
You are never alone.
We are here for each day each other.

Update on my watch: My watch needed to be turned off and rebooted and re-sync-ed with my phone. I had to manually shut it down and then wait while it reacquainted itself with my Phone. It took time, patience and letting go- the re-syncing takes time to do it right.

Where can you see the seasons right now? 

Where can you see the need for light in our anxiety?

Where can you re-sync yourself? Re-Boot? Re-connect?

You are not alone, you are enough, you are connected.
Remember to take time to let that “sync” in.

What glues us together? Love, Compassion, and a whole lot of Jesus

Trinity Church in the City of Boston
September 6, 2026
Proper 18, Year A

Psalm 119:33-40
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20


Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

All you with mercy in your heart, forgiving others, take your part,
O Sing now Alleluia

All you that pain and sorrow bear, praise God, and cast on him your care.
Alleluia Amen.
– Hymn All creatures of our God and King v. 5

Good Morning Trinity Church!

I don’t know about you, I have been feeling the heaviness of the world lately. Like the intermittent rainy days of this past week, the brokenness of the world has seemed to have intermixed itself within all of the daily routines.

Wars continue, shootings take innocent life, legendary singers, actors, poets, activists have died,  the red sox continue to take us on a roller coaster of wins and losses and closer to home, we each have our own personal struggles in health, in relationships, in loss and seeking identity. One can feel a bit hopeless amidst the literal gray skies.

In the midst of the storms and gray skies of pain and sorrow, we can find ourselves seeking a magic fix, the perfect solution to all of the worlds’ problems. We crave a flipping of a switch to change all of the challenges, a quick fix, a resolution that makes us feel better immediately and yet….

We know that deep healing takes time, grieving, and persistent, gracious relationship.

Healing and restoration of relationships takes digging deep, settling into what connects us in order to repair the fractures.

Recently at my home, we have undertaken a home project of regrouting the bricks on our front steps. The bricks were coming undone, the grout between the bricks has disappeared and several had become wiggly- no longer supporting  the weightiness of day to day activities.  Their brokenness was going to cause someone to fall as they attempted to reach the threshold of the house, our own gathering space.

Mortar holds those little bricks together to create a much bigger step for reaching the threshold. We had to stop and repair that binding agent. That mortar is important, made from other small pieces of concrete, add water, and cement occurs. (I have an MDiv not an engineering degree, clearly- this is the extend of my home repair knowledge)- what I do know is that you have to take care when placing and setting that mortar to achieve your desired result. Intention, patience, and waiting is involved for the bond to re-establish.

The Gospel of Matthew has often been seen a step by step guidance for the stepping stones on how to rebuild community. The gathered people.

Humanity contently seems to choose to fracture relationships rather than build them up. I caution us not to use today’s reading prescriptively as a multi-vitamin that is the definitive way to cover all things. The gospel reminds us how one can meet the fracture, the gap in relationship and..

Matthew’s words today imply grace and invitation, each movement settling into the grooves of relationship to re-establish the connective links to the community out of love and compassion for each person in the relationship. Caring for the individual, seeking restoration of community.

While the Gospel’s words are prescriptive in a step by step process, each moment is not a box to be ticked waiting to move to the next step. Rather, with each person meeting each other where they are, each listening to their pain and sorrow bound up in actions. Working together shoulder to shoulder, the gospel is reminding us that the community should strive to come together towards unity. To fill the gap between with tiny and large bits of love, accountability, and a generous amount of compassion.

Jesus, in this gospel reading, reenvisions the Deuteronomic understanding of the consequences of an individual’s actions, rather than capital punishment, Jesus reaffirmed  the idea of expulsion from the community and then beginning again with invitation.

No one is ever excluded from the invitation of the grace of God to join the community of Faith and live that faith in our common humanity. The gathered community is united by covenant to build up the kingdom of God together.

Soon, we will watch four families stand here presenting their children to be baptized. They too will promise to bring their children into this community of love and belonging.

Baptism doesn’t mean the children from this day forward will make all the right choices, rather —  these families will strive to live out God’s love in their life and in the world around us- as a testament of love in a broken world.

AND We commit to “whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord” with these families in the baptismal covenant- the question is not if but WHEN… and we promise “I will with God’s help” repent, turn from our mistakes, and return to seeking full relationship with God. Reminding us to pause, ask forgiveness, seek to restore and build up the community.

Jesus lived that example in this world, inviting each person from children to adult, individuals of all socioeconomic backgrounds and educational levels. His arms of love were and are open to all those who encounter him with their brokenness and need for forgiveness. Everyone. Re-establishing, restoring, returning us to God’s full embrace and love. Taking our brokenness and binding us up.

Now, Trinity Church has it’s own sort of mortar that is visible in this space, my favorite space is to see the mortar in the foundations of the pillars and on the hallways of the Lower Level. The stones are LARGE and so is the amount of mortar necessary for holding these stones together. IN these large fixtures the mortar is made up of not just pebbles and sand but actual stones from the original church- the fractures and the splinters gluing this amazing space together. Building upon what was and creating a stronger space to hold a larger community today and for the years to come.

 That is our call as church, holding the heavy times together and persistently and graciously living with the hope that change can occur despite humanity’s choices to the contrary.

The church or “ecclesia” is the gathered people, wherever they might find themselves, in the pews here in a worship service, along the paths we walk, in the first days of school orientation or even in traffic (grace can find itself in even the impossible spaces!)- in the midst we are bonded together by the past and by what is to come.

We gather in community for strength, reaffirming our faith, and seeking the hope and love that will carry us forward, united by the bond of the love that God has first given us and bound us together as gathered people.

The work of being in community is messy and at the same time strengthening to who we each are called to be as a beloved child of God in a world that wants to extinguish the hope we know through the persistent love of God that meets us in the fractures and lights our path.

Wherever you might find yourself, in the broken space or distanced from an other, be filled with the hope and love that God is there with you too guiding you (in the fullness of time) towards community and belonging.

One Camino, Many People

Trinity Church in the City of Boston
Proper 15 year A

Isaiah 56:1,6-8
Psalm 67
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

What was the last argument that you had?

How did it start?
How did it end?
Are you still in that space of unresolved?
Do you even remember why the argument started?

We can easily lose ourselves in our space of arguments, we forget we are related either by blood or by baptismal covenant and we become deaf to the other’s words, merely spouting our own opinion.
Seeking to be right rather than to get it right.

Such divisive mentality is modeled to us in the media, politics and within our gospel lesson today, if we listen with only our ears.

And who can blame us for hearing right and wrong only? As disciples, just like the OG 12, we want to get things “right.” Like Peter, we want to shine knowing the right answer first and loudly. AND just like Peter, we often get things only half correct due to our zeal, passion, and need to stand on concrete yeses and nos.

In Exodus, we are given the 10 commandments, a list of “do this and do not do this.” In Matthew we are told how then to live as disciples and much like the “rich young ruler” if we only follow with only our heads and hands and not with our hearts, we have missed the gospel’s point.

We may have all the right answers and yet, where lies our heart?
Where is the grace that Jesus gives to each person he encounters?
Where is the seeking to understand and not just to be understood?

Where do we seek to gather others in rather than to win the argument.

In early May, my husband and I had the opportunity to hike a portion of the Camino in Spain. This was just before the heatwaves began in Europe.
We hiked 100km of the Portuguese route.

For those of you who are not aware, when one speaks of the Camino- this is really a BROAD understanding – there are so many different routes/paths or “Caminos” to hike. There is the north route, the French route, the English route, the Portuguese route…. Each referencing their starting point for hiking and, to make it even more interesting, on each route there are side quests- you can take a trail that wanders further into the mountains or closer to the sea. It’s a bit of “choose your own adventure,” a camino (which means literally “a path.”

The path, wherever the route may be, is the basically the same: sometimes paved, sometimes wooded, sometimes bumpy and hilly, sometimes empty and sometimes crowded. There are places to stop along the way with snacks and places with simply just benches.

People walk the camino for different reasons and purposes. Yet all are walking together for a spell and anyone walking (called a pilgrim or Peregrino) finds that they loop back with each other daily since they are all going the same way to Santiago, Spain and more specifically to the cathedral.

So there we were, Rob and Abi Moon, pilgrims…. No group to shepherd, just the two of us….and the yet to be met pilgrims around us. Being a former long distance runner, my body was used to long distance…one foot after another…just keep going. Find a friend, chatt a bit, give thanks for the breeze, wonder….aloud and silently.

Rob, the former archeologist, was used to thoughtfully digging holes in one space for long periods of time. One foot after another was a completely different negotiation for him. A new path his lovely wife invited him onto….  Bless him.

And on one warm afternoon on about Day 5 of walking, in the midst of our walking together and talking, I wanted to be right.
In my mind, in our discussion, he was clearly wrong and I was tired, bothered, and carrying too much in my backpack (regretting the choice to carry all of my things on my back and why on earth I deemed somethings in my bag as necessary.)


I wasn’t listening, I refused to back down and could not hear the actual AND that Rob was saying. We walked on in sulky silence. Or at least I did.And on one warm afternoon on about Day 5 of walking, in the midst of our walking together and talking, I wanted to be right.
In my mind, in our discussion, he was clearly wrong and I was tired, bothered, and carrying too much in my backpack (regretting the choice to carry all of my things on my back and why on earth I deemed somethings in my bag as necessary.)
I wasn’t listening, I refused to back down and could not hear the actual AND that Rob was saying. We walked on in sulky silence. Or at least I did.

A while down the road, time and steps passing, Rob repeated his statement to me again and it was there that I heard the word I had originally missed. The  “AND.” The argument I thought we were having wasn’t an argument at all, I wasn’t listening!! I had not heard what Rob was actually saying and what Rob had actually done was invite me into thinking more broadly, more expansively, reflecting the understanding of the bigger picture. The walk continued with less sulky silence from me and a bigger sense of joy.

Our Gospel today reminds us of the perseverance of Love. Before today’s reading, Jesus has spent quite some time talking about what one should and shouldn’t do. Now, our gospel writer tells us, Jesus is walking to a new space. Quite significantly, “Tyre and Sidon”- this reference is clear to that day and age that this region is the “other side of the tracks”- the other side of the world for all intents and purposes. The Land of non-Jewish, non-chosen, the “not like the others.” A foreign land.

A Jewish man, called the Messiah, encounters a Canaanite woman.
She calls to him.
She calls him by the name that those who believe in his teachings call him.
She remains un-named and yet her words are remembered.
She calls out on behalf of her daughter
She has been known to have demons
She has courage, perseverance, and humility.
To endure in the conversation, to understand.

And Jesus.

We know Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, the teacher, the healer, the song of Man, the Messiah.

This message of this story is not “if you are persistent, Jesus will grant you your desire” nor is it “Jesus changed his mind”- both are the easy answers that leave me unsettled. Neither is Jesus is testing the woman to see if she will persist in her pleas to test her faith.

This encounter goes deeper.

The Canaanite woman and Jesus are not just having a battle of wits on this dusty path. While superficially it might appear that the woman outsmarts Jesus and his insults to her, the conversation illustrates to us that the love and generosity of God is ultimately available for all. Even when, at first, it seems as though it seems impossible.

The woman understands the power Jesus has, even as the odds are stacked against her as a foreigner and woman. Jesus understands her faith through her response which takes his reply and won’t let him off the hook so easily. He engages with her and responds rather than retorts or dismisses her.
Jesus stops and with compassion responds deeply and care-fully.

Hearts meeting in compassion rather than demands for the sake of knowledge of being right.
Pain being divulged masked in puns and rhymes.
Taking time to deeply listen with the heart, the oneness of kin-ship.

Arguments cease when we deeply listen to the actual message that is being shared, masqueraded by conviction.

Replacing I am right, you are wrong – with where have you been dismissed and hurt?

Or instead of I am right, you are wrong- how can we acknowledge this pain and realize we both deserve to be whole-y listened to and while we might disagree, this is not personal, this disagreement is different.

When you find yourself at “I am right, you are wrong”- where can we move forward together?

Is there a better way together?

Are we both right?

Knowledge of facts can often be used to protect our vulnerability,
Understanding one another strengthens us.

During the month of July, we heard a lot about seeds and planting things in our Gospel readings. To be honest, I was over the parables and while we have shifted to encounters with people, I am not sure we moved to easier readings! Parables are less personal in someways, people are far more complicated and messy.

Jesus enters into the argument and listens to the Canaanite Woman. The conversation is complicated and together Jesus and the Canaanite Woman conclude in healing and restoration. Their hearts meet with compassion. The love of God is deep and wide, meeting us where we are.

How often in our arguing do we stop and truly listen to what the other person is ACTUALLY saying.

What is the need that the other person has- is it to be heard, to be seen, to be loved, to belong? Perhaps their words mean something different than what we hear.

Perhaps, making deeper space to listen to each other creates the space for moving forward together with compassion so that healing can occur.

Perhaps, rather than entering a conversation ready to win, we could enter carrying a little less in our backpacks of preconception and create a space to quiet the distracting exhaustion of our walk and realize the other person is right there with us- not threatening our dignity or identity, instead they are creating an opportunity to enhance and expand our understanding of the Beloved Community as we walk together.

Perhaps this is the path, God is calling us to walk.

May each step of our path persevere to shine a light on God’s expansive love where that love is most needed.

Guardians of the Seeds made Flesh

Trinity Church in the City of Boston
Proper 12 Year A
July 26, 2026

1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 119:129-136
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Good Morning, Trinity Church!

What a gift it is to be here again. For those who might be visiting with us today, I have recently returned from a three-month sabbatical and I am so thankful for that opportunity for rest, renewal, and return. I am deeply grateful for all those who filled in the gaps while I was away. THANK YOU.

AND it is good to be home.

Home with you, praying, worshiping, listening and learning what you have been up to since the Easter season and as we plan forward. The 50 days of Easter were full of celebrations here and I will admit I missed being present with you in those moments.

Never fear, much like your celebrations, my time away was full of learning new things (such as learning that if you have to drive the George Washington Bridge, the best time is at 2am when it is empty!), visits with loved ones, reading books that needed reading and I was able to achieve one of my more whimsical goals of eating blueberry ice cream at Sarah’s Scoops and seeing the Guardians of the Seeds in Booth Bay, Maine.

The Guardians of the Seeds, for those who might not know, are these large wooden figures found in the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Booth Bay. There are 5 of these giant troll-like figures in various poses and each has their own name and role in the planting[i] and care (guardian) of the seeds. The trolls are primarily constructed from recycled pallets and other recycled wood. Each face is a different story of salvaged wood – for example, Lilja’s consists of salvaged floorboards, and Roskva’s was salvaged from a Danish transfer station.[ii]

The artist, Thomas Dambo, saw something ordinary in discarded wood and how it could be transformed to share a message of creation. Each Troll’s identity has an essential role in guarding the seeds and their growth.

The trolls’ eyes dance with delight and soulfulness. Their poses are contemplative and whimsical. Many selfies were taken by all ages as we gazed on these unique wooden creatures right in the middle of a forest path. Ordinary materials transformed into something much larger to invite you into wondering about the many parts of creation, where humanity has successfully and unsuccessfully cared for the earth.

As my husband and I walked the path with our map, outpaced by younger children and assisting older ones with taking photos, we found that we all were curious as we moved along to see what the next troll will appear and to read about the moment of the planting process on which we could reflect. On a gorgeous sunny day, we were thankful for the shade and the joy of the companions (wooden and flesh alike) on the way.

The incredible genius of the sculptures and invitation to wonder for a moment came to mind as I came to the Gospel this week.

Today we have a richness of parables. 6 if you count all of them. A path of sorts from who are we in the story to culminating in understanding our the task for us to do.

As my colleague Brandon spoke about 2 weeks ago with the Parable of the Sower of the Seeds, this is a new grammar, the kingdom of Heaven vocabulary that we (as the disciples, too) have to learn, lean into, and are invited in to hear deeply.[iii]

Brother Jamie Nelson from Society of St John the Evangelist recently wrote, “Parables create space for wondering and for wrestling with God. Parables invite further seeking – they don’t set up tidy answers to regurgitate on command. Parables plant the seeds of the kingdom.”[iv]

Think about that phrase, “there is no tidy answer.”  We, and the original disciples, live in a messy and broken world. These parables reflect on God in the midst of our messiness and brokenness, the actions of a loving God in the Kingdom of Heaven.

A God who is present in the ordinary elements of seeds, yeast, treasures, pearls, fish, AND scribes. While God is in the extraordinary, God is very much in the day to day moments, the ordinary.

The parables tell us of a God who plants seeds whimsically and knows that the smallest of seeds can grow into the most gigantic of shrubbery, providing for more than just its own needs.

A God as the barely visible/invisible yeast that transforms and gives height and levity to what it is added too.

Both illustrations of the ordinary smallest of things becoming and transforming beyond imagination.

Moving from ordinary transformations, we receive two more illustrations emphasizing how much is this kingdom worth. The merchant who is willing to sell everything for the treasure and for the pearl.

Parables often illustrate a world that contrasts the practical to illustrate the expansive nature of God’s common sense, or “sense for the common”- you and me- as the treasure worth forsaking all things.

While Matthew is the only Gospel to include the parable of the yeast, the treasure, the pearl and the fish in this way, the gospel writer does so to emphasize that Jesus not only teaches this way, Matthew writes to highlight that Jesus is embodiment of these teachings. These parables are part of the rough map to understanding the impractical love of God.

God so loves humanity that he believes that each of us, no matter how small, can -working together- change this world. We are mighty, though the world might say otherwise.

God loves humanity so intensely that God would give up everything to be in relationship with us. We see this in the incarnation- God made flesh- to dwell among us. Jesus, human in every way, living, teaching, dying on our behalf. Sending his own beloved Son to be one of us, God’s desire is to restore us in relationship with God fully.

We are that pearl, the treasure claimed by God.

Jesus is praying, teaching, and healing each day to, in human form, teach this message as living parable of the kingdom of heaven.

At the end of our reading today (and last parable in the series but not the entire gospel) we are given the imagery of sorting of the fish. Similar to my colleague Kit, who preached on the parable of the sorting of the Weeds and the Wheat last week-[v] I am not sure that I could tell if a fish was bad or good- they are all pretty smelly to me. The emphasis of this parable is not that we are to sort, rather that God invites us to be the net casters collecting everything and similar to the final parable, be like the scribes too, to bring the new and old forward to all.

We are called to share the delight of being found with those we encounter, knowing that God has that love for them, too.

Now back to those trolls of Maine, The Guardians of the Seeds, and their creator, Thomas Dambo, remind us that with the ordinary we can create, learn, and share a message that seems too good to be true.

A message that the kingdom of heaven is here for us and for all to be a part of, a space of invitation and being found. A space where each person is treasured and empowered to engage with the call to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven.

We know this message of love from the words and life of Jesus, those who have gone before us and in looking at creation as we, too, are guardians that invite others into the story as they encounter God in their midst.

Understood? Clear as mud? The disciples said yes
(I am pretty sure they still had questions! I still do!)

Here is the reassuring news, We may get turned around, what we find may be surprising, AND there are companions on this path with us. We continue in this pattern of prayer and worship together so that we might support each other in prayer, to better understand one another, for solace and for encouragement and we will keep doing so as we see and hear the seeds of the kingdom planted through hands, hearts, and scripture that gird our loins for the world we live in.

Jesus kept his heart steady and was distracted neither by fame nor fury.
He kept teaching, living, loving, being with those in community.

May we keep steady, pursuing that which will help us, not harm us;
what will dignify us, not destroy us.
And live our lives like Jesus, lived with the deepest love.[vi]
Amen

[i] https://www.mainegardens.org/events-exhibits/giant-trolls/

[ii] https://www.mainegardens.org/visit-faq/

[iii] https://trinitychurchboston.org/sermon/kingdom-grammar/

[iv] https://www.ssje.org/author/br-jamie-nelson/

[v] https://trinitychurchboston.org/sermon/57452-2/

[vi] Paraphrased from the prayer at the offered at the end of this Commentary https://www.spiritualityofconflict.com/readings/263/eighth-sunday-after-pentecost

Gardens and Stillness

Trinity Church in the City of Boston
Good Friday
April 3, 2026

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Each year, on Good Friday, we gather at 12noon to worship,
to pray,
to listen, again, to the story.

Slowing down in this holy triduum or three days,
We are still and somber.

To hear again of Christ’s betrayal, arrest, sentencing,
and today walk the path towards death.

It is heart breaking to hear the words we heard last Sunday ….again,
today from the Gospel of John.

Today our Story begins in the garden,
the garden of Gethsemane.
The garden of prayer and presence.

our story ends in the garden,
at the garden of the untouched tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
Stillness and creation bookending betrayal, violence, suffering and pain.

Stillness that invites us to be present in the raw emotion of the day
and contemplate the brokenness that humanity chooses time and time again over love.

As you listened to the Gospel today,
I wonder where you saw yourself within the story?
An unnamed disciple? The Crowd?
Malchus, whose ear was cut off?
Peter, who claimed he did not know the man?

Each person, named or unnamed, experiencing these moments intimately with Jesus. In the slowest movement of time we feel the heart wrenching pain of loneliness and abandonment.

Our songs are somber in cadence and
we read these readings every single year because in them we are reminded that with each moment that we experience the world falling apart,
humans choosing brokenness rather than wellness,
In each of those moments, God says to us
              —The last word is not one of failure and brokenness.

The last word today is of God’s unfailing, enduring, faith filled love.
Present in the pain.
Present in the loneliness
Present in the fragments

Jesus’ last words on the cross in John are “It is finished”
    – meaning the condemnation of death has not vanquished God’s power over death.

Jesus spent his life on earth restoring God’s people into God’s embrace.
The wide embrace that stretched itself out on the cross.

In the holy space of isolation on the cross we see community.
The women are found at the foot of the cross.
The women named and unnamed who witness Jesus’ final action are present.

Today we, too, are present.
Holding, as Jesus does, all of the emotions and the pain of the world.

“We adore you oh Christ and we bless you”- we will hear sung during the Anthems.

We hold the heaviness of the pain of death and at the same time know that today is not the end the end of the story.

We sit in silence,
We pray for the world because even though we have walked this way each year…

Each year we walk again knowing that God’s love for all of creation is more powerful than death.

We know that in each moment of brokenness there is an opportunity for a new beginning.

Today we, too, rest in the knowledge that even in betrayal, violence, and death – God is present and refuses to let those actions be the final say in our lives.

Love is the final word.

A love so deep that even on the cross Jesus cares for those unnamed beside him, those who still mocked him, those who were on the edge.

All of us restored in relationship to God. All means all,

Those of us like Judas who betray God.
Those of us like Peter who deny God because of fear.
Those of us like Malchus who are wounded by those thinking they are doing the right thing with the wrong actions.
Those of us like Annas or Caiaphas who pass judgment or defer to other’s judgment.
Those of us like Pilate who have authority over life and death and choose to let others decide.
Those of us who are blinded by passion and emotion and join in the crowd.

Jesus came to reconcile all of us. AS we will pray in our solemn collects, Jesus came that those who haven’t heard of him might know him, that those who resist the good news might hear, and so that those who have gone astray might come home.

In his final moments, Jesus unites him mother with his disciple- creating a family- reestablishing, reconciling, and recreating where a loss was occurring.

Jesus gives a new beginning in the midst of his end and in so doing reconciling the world through him. “Woman Behold your son”- joined because of the common relationship through Jesus- God’s son cares for his earthly mother and reconnects humanity in the simplest of forms- through family. Jesus spreads his arms out on the cross that the whole world might come to him and be reconciled.

That we all might cast our eyes upon him and be embraced and welcomed, We pray this week that we might find the way of the cross none other than the way of life and peace; and be restored in fullness in our relationship with God.

Good Friday is a hard day for us- we wait and listen as the story unfolds, we listen to how God allowed his son to die for us in a system that we perpetuate. We act as we do not want to, looking back as we betray God, deny our relationship, ignore his faithfulness and strength, and we can be ashamed.

AND We know that Jesus endures all things, knows all things and connects all things. It’s the love of a Savior who is willing to be killed for us that is the message of this day and gives us hope of returning to the garden. And it is this all love and power that we reflect on today- in all its power and vulnerability.

We keep telling the story because we live knowing hope and that the power of love will prevail.

Made for a different world than what we live in. 

Trinity Church in the City of Boston 
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany Year A 
February 1, 2026 

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

world upside down

Made for a different world than what we live in. 

Living a world that was not created for you.i 

“We live in stressful times” is perhaps the biggest understatement of the day. 

Whether we are talking about politics, climate change, family dynamics, or daily safety, there is a real and palpable tension in our midst. 

How are you dealing with this stress, this uncertainty? 

Anxious, Fearful, Lack of Sleep? 
I have a confession to make. 

Last week, I was working through this stress with prayer and baking. 

Yes, as the snowstorm was descending, i took out butter and eggs and began to bake as if my sweet oven and baked goods would save the world.  

Did it give me an escape, yep. 

Was it going to change the world. Not in a large sense… 

Baking gave me a recipe to follow, space to think, pray, wait and contemplate the world we are living in,  

As the smell of butter and flour baked together, my mouth watered and I began to wonder,  
What do we hunger for? What is it at is the core of the stress? 

And I thought about my favorite baking shows,  

bear with me here… 

“Chopped”ii was one of my favorite cooking shows. 

The Food Network Cooking show with chefs who are each given a surprise basket of ingredients and are expected to make a course for the judges in a very short amount of time….quick thinking, dashing around the kitchen ensues. Chefs are stressed out and under pressure. Severely limited in what they have been given.  
It is stressful to watch. 

 
Beautiful bites for the judges. Fancy names and prettiness. 
And yet the ethos of this show is cutthroat,  
it promotes excelling, competitive, me-centered competition to win at all costs.  
Often the chefs scoff at the others and disagree with judges and openly are fierce for one upping the other person…. often to the detriment of their opponents.  

I loved the creativity of this show, the beaty of the creations  
and became disillusioned with the people. 

The show was designed for competition as the goal. 

Win the Prize At all costs. 

What do you do with the unexpected ingredients and demands that you are given?  

Creativity under pressure! 

In contrast… 

The show “The Great British Bake Show”iii has replaced our household’s favorite cooking show. 

Perhaps the difference is that the bakers are novices and not professionals. 

Perhaps it is that the prize is a cake plate and not a cash price insentivising them 

Who knows… 

There are elements of the show that are identical to “Chopped.”   
There are surprise ingredients and items to use AND YET 

The ethos is different…. 

Each baker does their best 

They cheer each other on 

They—actually help each other at times 

They support each other – crying when something fails, encouraging the one who feels lost  

And i am sure there are still moments that are staged –  

and yet you fall in love with these characters, their stories (which are longer than just a weekly only show)–   

The Great British Bake Show turns the competition world on its head. 

Promoting celebrations and acknowledging failure with grace and some laughter and tears. 

A different world. 

Competition turned upside down. 

I heard a podcast recently stating “You are living in a world that was not created for you” and I realized how true that statement was for the larger stressful world we live in. 

The world we live is not the world that God created and called blessed in Genesis.  

Turning to our Gospel reading this week, we are reminded that we are only in the fifth chapter of Matthew. As Morgan shared last week, we have heard of the setting of the context of Jesus’ ministry. Last week Jesus called his disciples and today he is setting the context of the kingdom of heaven. The Beatitudes are not a recipe for how then to live. Rather, the beatitudes are meant as encouragements, reminders, not new commandments. They speak to those gathered and give words of wisdom about the kingdom, or reign of heaven, those who see the divine in their midst already.  
Where the divine is already right here in the now. 

In a world that says the poor in spirit are weak 

In a world that says the other are less than 

Jesus is saying- these people in their space are the community 

 – not us and them-  

rather WE together carry fully both the hope and the sorrow of the world. 

Rather than a cutthroat, leave the weak behind, Jesus is saying all of us have been given ingredients and are creating with what we have been given and given the chance to build something. 

The Kingdom of Heaven is about kin-ship not KING ship and reigning supreme.  
In this reframing, we hear more clearly that heaven is both here and yet to come. 

We, as the faithful, were not built for the system that we are in.  
A system that promotes putting someone else down to succeed and yet we are each called in our own way to respond prayerfully, with what we have, to shed light on the divine in our midst. 

To seek justice and to promote peace. 
To respect the dignity of every human being. 

To encourage each other and seek to build community, giving voice to those how have no voice. 

So now the rest of the story of my stress baking, after cooking way too many loaves of bread and cinnamon rolls, I opened my door to share the treats with my neighbors and realized how much I had to learn about New England snow storms. 

When i opened my door, i had to laugh. 

On Monday morning- outside my door—Snow, every where. 

In order to GET to my neighbors,  

I had to put my pride filled baked goods bake inside and get out my shovel. 
 

Yea, cause there was NO path to my neighbors.  

While the roads were passable,  

the drifts were thigh high and surrounded my car barring me from getting out my door much less going ANYWHERE. 

So a shoveling I went and joined the neighbors…. 

We were laughing about my southern “what the heck is this”– never seen drifts like this before (Ya’ll it has been a while since a snow has been this deep!) and new friends sharing tips on parking in the snow, digging out and making sure all of our neighbors were okay with power and their own basic needs. 

While the drifts have still not melted away yet, we made a way….  

We trudged along together. 

In the stress of these times, I turn to doing what we can with what we have and listening for where we can stand with each other, assist in “shoveling out the things” that stand in our way and building up the community. 

As the faithful, we hunger in our hearts for community and justice and God calls us to that work. 

United by bread and wine, baptism and books of common prayer 

With a spirit of sacrifice and solidarity 

Hearts of love and loneliness 

Wonder and willfulness 

We were made for kin-dom livingiv 

We find a way to gather here today, to be fed and nourished to go back into the world and keep at the work of compassion, hope and love for each member of the body of Christ—resisting the systems and leaning towards the kin-dom of God. 

Blessed Jesus, 
up on a mountain you sat down and gathered a crowd with one word. 
In naming a surprising list of those who receive God’s blessing, 
you remind us of the realities of this world and the truth of your realm. 
Help us to recognize that in striving for a better life for others, 
we find ourselves among those you call blessed. 
Amen.v 

i This line was stated in the Story Corps Podcast this week about ADA Awareness month.. https://storycorps.org/disabilityawareness/ A beautiful podcast with children and parents sharing their voices in a world that was not built for them. 

ii Haven’t seen it? https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/chopped Here you go, you are welcome. 

iii Haven’t seen it? https://thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk/ I mean even their landing page is full of smiles and joy! 

iv Gregory Boyle speaks extensively in his book ”Barking to the Choir” about this idea https://a.co/d/a69bbpd – similar to the Ubuntu Principles, eiliminating a world view of ”Us-Them” to only US together. 

v https://www.spiritualityofconflict.com/readings/225/fourth-sunday-after-epiphany  

Where is Jesus? Amidst Heartache and loss, God is still there in this New Year

Trinity Church in the City of Boston 
Second Sunday after Christmas Day Year A  
January 4, 2026 

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Songs of Thankfulness and Praise, to you, oh lord, we raise 

Happy New Year my friends! 

While the church liturgical year begins on the first Sunday of Advent, our calendar year has reset as of three days ago and I don’t know about you, but I have received countless suggestions on how to reflect on last year and prepare for this new year. Questions about “what gave me joy,” “what gave me energy,” “what was impossible, what really was crappy about 2025 and for 2026, what goals shall you have?” “What things shall you make habits that worked or didn’t work in 2025?” 

Regardless of how you ended your 2025 or started your 2026, 
I give thanks that we are here together today, to continue in the tradition of gathering as the faithful coming together and then going back into the world.  
We too, gather and then are sent resolutely, after being fed by word and sacrament.  
Living sometimes in the known and often by faith into the unknown. 

Here we go, 2026! 

The sleepy in-between-time between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve is over, the work world picks up with fervor this week (if it slowed down at all for you.)  
The emails and meetings await you.  
The Todo lists might become a bit too overwhelming…  
and so, we take our time today 

To Be still 

To listen again for hope,  
For fortitude and for direction amidst a world that swirls confusion around us. 

Let’s lean into our lessons today. 

We sing once more like Shepherds and Angels- joyfully, proclaiming-ly, the good news of the birth of our Lord and Savior in the most ordinary of ways- as a baby to a young couple in Bethlehem.  

We hear today that in the past 11days Jesus has gone from a wee baby in the manger to being 12 years old. Time Flies, (much like our vacation also feels)…. and they say children grow up in the blink of an eye!  

Luke’s tells us Jesus’ birth story in a unique way.  
He tells us not only the Christmas Story that we read each year on Christmas Eve, the gospel writer then also shares Jesus’ presentation at the Temple (which we celebrate on February 2nd each calendar year- 40days after Jesus’ birth) and then this story of Jesus at 12years old, right before his 13th birthday when he would have celebrated his Bar Mitzvah- becoming a man. 

Luke gives us three snapshots of Jesus, a trilogy of sorts, as a boy growing up in faith, growing in the tradition. Luke shares that his parents went annually to Jerusalem, as all faithful were required to do, for prayer and celebration. Jesus grew up obedient to the customs, to his parents, to the faith. Jesus was a truly human boy, Luke wants us to know. 

And Jesus’ parents, also truly human though not divine, faithfully lived into the unknown each step of the way. Their willingness to stay together, have this child, travel to Bethlehem for Roman Empire requirements and the birth, to present this child at the temple at 40days old, and then annually with their community go to Jerusalem, guided them to press pause on their daily lives and to go pray, to gather, to live into their lives of faithful obedience.  
Gathering to seek wisdom and guidance and to celebrate God in their midst. 

AND then. 
On the normal annual route and return home to Nazareth (not by another road like the Magi of the Gospel of Matthew) Mary and Joseph realize that Jesus was no longer with them. 
 
The holy family once again reveals their true humanity.  
GREAT Anxiety, Fear, Guilt, Anger- they have lost their firstborn. 
We can only imagine…. 

Picture Home Alone when Catherine O’Hara realizes Kevin is not there. AAAHHHHH!!! 
Imagine that sinking feeling in your gut when you realize the worst could have happened. 
 

Where was Jesus? 
 

It takes Mary and Joseph three days to find Jesus, Jesus goes a total of 4 days missing from his parents. 

I can only imagine the fear, the heartache, the agony of those days- searching for their child. Looking with all of their being. 

We know the rest of the story. 
Jesus is, we know- is safe and sound, surrounded by community, sitting in the Temple.  
He has stayed in the space you dream all children get lost in, the building of the faithful. 
Sitting, Listening, Absorbing. 

In the midst of the routine, Jesus has returned to the temple and centered down for comfort, for wisdom, for courage for what is ahead. 

While his parents greet him with anger and interrogation, expressing their righteous anxiety, the passage concludes with a family returning home together and Mary treasuring all these things in her heart. 

Mary ponders.  
Luke uses the same words when the Shepherds and Angels appear at the manger scene. 

Luke does not tell us about her next steps, rather, that each of these moments were held to wonder. 

Curiosity 

Trust. 

Peace. 

There is a peace for Mary and transformation for those who encounter this child.  
 

Shepherds’ lives were transformed that holy night and in this chapter of Jesus’ childhood- we hear of a transformation for Mary and Joseph- Jesus is also transforming into the man called to ministry. While Luke does not speak of the Magi, Matthew’s gospel speaks of their transformation from their encounter with Jesus. 

As we begin this new year, I wonder where do we have a moment where we stop in our tracks and wonder “where is Jesus?”- where has our busy-ness brought us?  
 
Where have we lost ourselves in the flurry of the fullness of life demanded of us and we don’t even see God in our Midst? 

Where have we been so overcome by the mid bleak winter of personal loss, global fear, and anxiety that we do not see God in community in our midst, and we have lost hope. 

Where, in our doing what we should do, have we lost our reason for the pilgrimage, for the journey? 

Where have we forgotten to take time to ponder? 
Where have we lost the time for being still and wondering? 

The Age-old Story- reminds us that every year we start again, we hear the story of Jesus being born to us, God bridging heaven and earth through the vulnerability of a baby and becoming flesh for us, love come down to us. 

We are reminded again that even those closest to Jesus, even his parents, do not immediately know what is going on and  

Jesus embraces them where they are. 
Jesus goes home with his parents and continues to grow in “wisdom and years.” (Some teasingly joke that he was grounded until his baptism as an adult- where Luke continues the story and our gospel for next week.) 

I wonder in this new year how you might find ways to re-center, be still and listen- finding ways to discover God, already there, in your midst.  

How we might not take for granted our routine and instead open our eyes to the holy right here in our midst. 

 
In the midst of a disorientating world, centering on the Love of God and being in community allows us, too, to grow in wisdom and years. This new year at Trinity Church invites you to so many ways to ponder and wonder. From bible studies, to serving in our community and neighbors, to serve in worship and to learn, to care for those around you in the parish, to feast and to break bread (both at the altar and with mardi gras cakes that abound after the 10am service)- to see where God breaks open the expected to open new opportunities to experience grace and love. 

Now thank we all our God, with hearts and hands and voices. 

Each year is a gift, a new chapter to be still, to listen, to challenge the ordinary and rediscover God in our midst even as the unexpected occurs. 

God with us, Emmanuel, invites us to walk in faith each moment, not always fully understanding and yet knowing we are not alone, we are enough, and we, too, have each moment to recenter ourselves with hope and love and be a light in this world. 

O may this bounteous God 
through all our life be near us, with ever joyful hearts 
and blessed peace to cheer us, to keep us in his grace, 
and guide us when perplexed, and free us from all ills 
of this world in the next. 

Amen 

HARK, Ya’ll!

Trinity Church in the City of Boston 
Christmas Day 2025 

Collect: 

Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born [this day] of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. 

Hark the Herald Angels Sing 
Glory to the Newborn King 
Peace on Earth and Mercy Mild 
God and Sinners Reconciled 
Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the Skies 
With Angelic host proclaim,  
Christ is born in Bethlehem 
Amen. 

Merry Christmas My Friends! 

Welcome to Trinity Church as we celebrate the morning of the birth of Jesus. Born to Mary and Joseph, with guests arriving from afar. 

I welcome you with the same joy as we sang that carol, with the same joy as the angels greeting the shepherds and with the same joy that unfolded as Mary and Joseph welcomed this newborn child into their lives. Divinely sent and in plain sight. 

No matter how you found your way here this morning, I want you to hear the hope and the joy of the Christmas message bright and crisp and clear this morning. 
Shiny with angels wings and stars 
Clearly, to you, personally and encouragment to you right where you are. 

Spoiler Alert: We read this same portion of scripture each and every year on Christmas Day. 
Angels appearing, Shepherds receiving the most bizarre message and reacting immediately and finding the newborn baby in the most ordinary of places. 

Angels, Shepherds, Mangers and Mommas. 

Each year I love hearing how the Shepherds were petrified by the announcement of the Angels and yet they overcome their paralytic fear and run with haste to find this new thing. 

Each year I listen to how it is Shepherds on the outskirts of town, in charge of others’ livestock that are invited to be the first guests to this birth. 

Each year I listen as Mary, deprived of sleep having not slept and ridden on a donkey for miles and then given birth in rustic conditions, doesn’t weep with joy or gnash her teeth with exhaustion, instead, she ponders these things in her heart with generosity, patience and tenderness. 

Each year I wonder anew how this ancient message is still relevant in this world and in my own life. 

Our scripture from Isaiah celebrates the feet of the messenger who brings the good news. The angelic toes of angels to the weathered soles (souls?!) of the shepherds receiving and sharing the news of what they could see in plain sight and what set their hearts singing. 

Right before we read the Gospel this morning we sang (con mucho gusto) Hark the Herald Angels Sing. A treasured Christmas Carol- singing like the Angels familiar words loudly and joyfully. 

This hymn has quite the story.  
While we sing this hymn every Christmas season- the mortal angels that penned the words and the music are quite a story. 

In 1739 Charles Wesley penned the first version of this hymn. All ten verses of it….. needless to say- this version –while beautiful, did not take off…until it was adapted.  

In 1753 George Whitfield took ahold of the hymn and modified it to the version we now know (I am pretty sure that the Wesley brothers are still upset by this fact.) In a further twist of time, in the 1850s William Hayman Cummings took the 1840 composition by Felix Mendelsohn and melded the words with a rousing melody to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Gutenberg’s printing press. A tune that, in 1840, was deemed not suitable at that time for sacred text, Cummings saw things differently. 

The same message and yet through different messengers, sharing the news of the birth of our Lord and Savior through time and talent.  

Each bringing song to each of us as we continue to sing along and ponder anew this message of the Angels on that holy night. 

HARK we and the angels sing. 

 
What a fun word, right? Similar to the “HEY YOU GUYS” or the southern “ALL YA’LL”- this message is for all – everyone. Angels divine and mortal have news to share. 

Good News to this world-  

And what is that Good News (or Gospel) that we share? 
Each Service we hold here revolves around the birth, life, and resurrection of Jesus. The incarnation, that God became flesh, one of us, “dwelled in the neighborhood” with fingers and toes. God emptied himself into mortal flesh to guide our footsteps, encourage us, and call us by name into restored relationship with God. 

This holy birth reminds us that even in the darkest of nights- there is a new beginning. 
While we may feel alone, the darkness is not the end- rather the canvas where the holy interrupts, breaks through and restores us. 
Christmas reminds us that restoration beginning in a new, holy, most bizarre way. 
A Baby 
God With Us 
Tender, mild, vulnerable 
Courageous, Enduring, and Inviting 
God in our midst 
Emannuel 

Do not let your fear of this disrupting news and the world keep you from responding in this loving invitation to see God breaking through in new ways.  

Invitation seen in the feet of those on the outskirts 
The Feet of those who appear divine and out of our reach 
In the feet of those who are weary and those who have always been carried.  
HARK, is for you, too. 

Let your heart, too, sing with this irrational joy. 
This revolutionary hope that we know God is working, even in the challenging times, to restore this world to wholeness, wellness and we too can be messengers. 

We may not be the final version of the good news being shared. 
AND 
Know that your sharing of this good news of hope and love matters. Your words (spoken and unspoken) are carried by the next person and ultimately joins the familiar chorus of Angels (and Whitfield, Wesley, and Mendelson). 

Right here, Right now in plain sight, we are invited to both worship and adore and go out with joy and hope in this world. 

God and Sinners Reconciled 
Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the Skies 
With Angelic host proclaim,  

Let your life sing today with this joy and hope, the same that God has for you. 

The Story Behind: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Enough is Enough

Trinity Church in the City of Boston
Proper 22 Year C
October 5

Lamentations 1:1-6
 Psalm 137
Luke 17:5-10

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

God of Hidden Seeds
when we feel overwhelmed,
Remind us that even small faith is enough.
Give us courage to forgive,
To risk Love,
to serve without seeking reward.
through Christ who came among us as a servant and friend. Amen.[i]

Enough is Enough.

While the phrase is redundant, the words also quite simply attain your meaning, or are enough!

A funny English word with many letters that “speak and do not speak”- terrifically difficult to intuit how to spell, the word comes from the Germanic.
AND I LOVE the word in German: Genug. (Much easier and shorter in spelling, too!)

Enough is Enough.


How often are we hollering this from our hearts?
How much worse can circumstances become?
How much more?
How much longer?
We lament.
We feel the loneliness, the isolation, the disconnect of the world. We are overwhelmed.

ENOUGH we cry, let us off this merry go round called life.


The readings today from Lamentations and our Psalm describe how desperate and disconnected the community feels. The psalmist takes their pain and, even with hope, moves to violence.

Enough is enough, their souls cry out.

Desperate for community, for flourishing, for joy to revisit their lives.

Much like taking too much wasabi or vegemite on your plate,
the saltiness and bitterness overwhelms everything else.

While the mustard seed illustration in today’s gospel is not unique to Luke’s Gospel (Matthew and Mark include it also), Luke often includes stories that are unique to illustrate his theme. Luke’s message is always about the kingdom of God turning things upside down. Reminding those listening that God’s desire for the world is full restoration of relationship in the midst of the isolation, desperation and despair.

Today, those beloved disciples have been walking with Jesus, walking, walking, walking. They have been listening to parables, to the people around them, to the pleas, the questions.
The Disciples are overwhelmed.

Jesus has been there with them.
Answering questions
Listening deeply
Answering with the right amount of truth.

The disciples, at this point in their hiking with Jesus say “INCREASE OUR FAITH” (which is the equivalent to “Lord have mercy!” in my southern background.) Essentially, they are saying, “You want us to do what? We have had the parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, the shrewd manager,- still working that one out- the banquet table seating chart and now, you have just told us we have to forgive more than is required and expected? What more do you want from us? The disciples say “enough!” or perhaps “sure Jesus, how on earth are you going to help us with this? Give us something more……”

Gently and beautifully, Jesus stays with them still.
Jesus says, friends, you already have enough.
Like Andrew looking about and seeing the young boy with fish in his basket,
       look at what you have around you.
Like Jesus sending out the disciples with only their staff and garments,
       You have what you need, the rest will be provided
Like Abraham heading out with family, |
       be with those you love in the uncertain
Like the Israelites following Moses- take what you have…
       God will provide for your daily needs, it will be different.
You, too, have enough and will be transformed.

The faith you already have is enough.
Trust in me.

Know you are enough.
Jesus tells them, “Your faith that you ALREADY HAVE, because it is in God, is enough to move even the dastardliest mulberry bush- rooted, sturdy and situated. Your faith can move even the most immovable things.”

You don’t need a lot of wasabi, vegemite, or mustard to make a huge difference, my friends.

Like Mary’s magnificent song, turning empires upside down.
      Faithful responses with God’s call make the impossible possible.

AND we respond in faith not for accolades,
not for the sabbath rest at the end of the day,
we live faithful lives because it is our calling, our duty.
Jesus’ subsequent story of the servants and roles and expectations, told by Jesus reminds the disciples that because of who we are, we live faithfully.

It’s what we do.

We opt into lives of love,
we lament, we grieve, we get angry
AND we look for the courage to forgive and receive grace of being forgiven.

We have enough within us to learn a new way,
to be guided by the Holy Spirit to see hope in the midst of despair.
To know that our lament is tempered with the joy of God’s presence with us in this very moment.

I love a bit of word play and adore that Jesus is constantly turning even the words the disciples use to help them understand themselves and God’s love for them more clearly.

In the disciples demanding “increase our faith,” Jesus directs them to the faith they already have and then digging deeper to their true desire to be heard and seen. They want Jesus to acknowledge and see their efforts, to affirm their efforts and celebrate that it is hard good work. Jesus reminds them that the work is enough, what they have is enough, sufficient.

Faithfully responding with love,
Planting seeds of hope, presence, joy and grace looks different for each of us.
And yet collectively our lives lived together in community make for kingdom living.

Seeing one another, listening deeply, seeing the faithfulness in each other
Seeing first the lament and pain AND deeper still the love that is in each heart.

As we cry out, ENOUGH is Enough.

Jesus replies to us, even now, what you have is enough.
My love is sufficient, my embrace is wide enough for all of you, I am here.
I know your suffering
        and you have enough to journey this road
You are loved.
You are seen, you are not abandoned.
You are enough.

I close with a beautiful prayer reflecting this gospel reading’s hopes and desires as we head out into the world. Both this prayer and the one I began with come from a community called Heartedge… which invites us to shift from survival mode to flourishing by focusing on relationships, community, and participation in God’s ongoing work in the world.[ii]

God of mustard Seas and mulberry trees,
we bring our small and fragile faith.
Breathe your spirit upon us.
Stretch our imagination.
Strengthen our trust,
Teach us to walk in humility and love.[iii]

Amen

[i] Prayer from the Heartedge  Bible Study for October 5

[ii] Both this prayer and the one I began with come from a community called Heartedge… which invites us to shift from survival mode to flourishing by focusing on relationships, community, and participation in God’s ongoing work in the world https://www.heartedge.org/a-generous-god/

[iii] Prayer from the Heartedge  Bible Study for October 5

Thrones, Chairs, and who sits beside you?

Trintiy Church in the City of Boston 
Proper 17 Year C 
August 31, 2025 

Jeremiah 2:4-13 
Psalm 81:1, 10-16 
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 
Luke 14:1, 7-14 

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen. 

In late July, the Trinity Choir had the privilege of being the choir in residence at Canterbury Cathedral. Each day they walked up the lane from the hotel to the cathedral for both rehearsal and also for leading the music of Choral Evensong.  

For those who have not been to Canterbury Cathedral, this cathedral is the oldest in the Church of England, established in 597. A mammoth building, it incorporates several styles of architecture, endured monarchs and controversy, and has been a place of worship for nearly 1500 years. Majestically the building is encircled by the town. Internally, there is the lower nave (the space for the congregation), then stairs down to the crypt and up to the chancel (fancy words for the lower level with tombs and the upper level for the choir and the original monastic community), more stairs take you up to the altar and then even more stairs take you up to a chair.  

The chair, cathedra, the throne of the Archbishop of Canterbury (ABC) sits at the very top of all of the stairs in the cathedral… A chair for the Archbishop of Canterbury, the position that presides over the entire Anglican Communion. This chair has been around since St Augustine of Canterbury held that first position. Unremarkably, this chair is not gold and large with ornamentation, rather this cathedra is short, made of stone, and only sat in by the ABC. 

To be honest, other than having the best view of the rest of the church, the chair is not very spectacular in architecture when it comes to chairs—it’s positioning though, signals that this position is most supreme, respected and the highest. 

Never fear, none of us mistakenly sat in the chair. In fact, no one sat in the chair while we were there (The cathedra is used rarely and The ABC position is currently vacant.) and yet we could see that cathedra each day during Choral Evensong.  

Who will be the next person in that seat, could it be a- gasp- woman? As a choir “chaperone,” I watched people come and go that week, sitting in the chairs put out, sitting in their favorite seat to see the choir, the priests, the piece of art….. watching processions and people…. come and going. 

What is your favorite chair, where do you watch the world and goings on? 

There is a big yellow overstuffed chair at a lake house that holds my heart… one that you can sit in all day, sleep in all night and if needed work from home…it’s delightful. From that chair you can watch the serene lake and those paddling about for fun. 

We own a couple of chairs in our house that we call the “tiny butt chairs” because they are uncomfortable unless you are tiny and the size of the 18th century Dutch person, for whom they were made. 

I have a sermon chair in my house and a favorite chair in the coffee shop. 

Are they fancy? 

Are they expensive? 

Is that why the chairs are our favorites? 

Nah, these chairs are what they are because of the experiences that were had in them. 

Made of stone, of wood, of cozy materials….. the material is just part of the story but not the actual focal point. 

Growing up, sitting around the dinner table in my assigned chair, I was taught which fork to use when, who should sit at the head of the table and who should be sat by whom.  
There were protocols….. 

And yet, at the end of long long school days complete with after school activities, our dinner would sit at the dining room table ready to be reheated and mom would sit at the table with us for company no matter how grumpy and surly we were as teenagers. 

What mattered most was being beside the person. 

These days, we encounter tables and chairs in different ways.  
Our tables may have stayed the same (or changed- expanded or shrunk due to life circumstances.) 

Our dining room tables now may include empty chairs as children are leaving the nest, because a loved one has died, because relationships have changed, or perhaps because we are always hoping one more person will arrive. 

In our gospel reading this week, Jesus is invited to dinner and after he arrives, he people watches. Just as the pharisees watched Jesus and his actions and movements, Jesus watches the mannerisms of the Pharisees. He watches how they choose the seating protocol, dictating the conversations, perpetuating the status and the contractual obligations of each person sitting by the next. Either expecting something in return or demanding respect, merely because of position. 

Jesus, has thoughts and feeling about these dinner party protocols. (And he shares them outloud!) I can see him smirking, “ya’ll just don’t get it! It’s not about the chair! Friends, you have it all wrong. I am going to tell you a story to make you scratch your head about all this protocol.” 

“Gather around the table to build relationship,” says Jesus. 

Gather to eat with one another, not due to honor and obligation, rather to listen to each other. 

Gather together due to care and compassion, the desire to break bread and be with each other. 

We all eat. 

We all desire companionship. 

A meal is made with love for those you love. 

Graciously accepting an invitation without worry or concern about obligation should be our immediate response. 

The invitation that Jesus gives to us is to make space to be present in the chair we find ourselves,  

Jesus invites us into more deeply discovering the person beside us.  
To learning more about who God is in their life and where blessings can be seen, broadening our own horizons and community. 

The ultimate expression of this banquet table, of course, is the Eucharist.  
Today we will celebrate baptisms, welcoming the newest members into the household of God and then we will move to the table and share this holy meal together. Each person shoulder to shoulder at the rail, unexpected neighbors and family together- equally receiving this gift of love. A meal that is specifically for each of us and all of us corporately.  

The banquet table welcoming all, and the only protocol is your receiving the invitation and saying Yes. Yes, to experiencing the love of a God who has called you, yes even you, into community. A God who loves you enough to want to make you whole and restore you to the fullness of your potential,  

restore you in the midst of the brokenness of this world and the individual hardship within your life. A God who fills each chair, empty or full, around the table with the opportunity for love to guide the next chapter. 

This week I was sitting in my coffee seat in a cafe and I looked up to overhear a small child crying directly opposite me. With my airpods in, I did what I do— SMILED HUGELY and waved at the child who had just been placed in the most restrictive of all seats, the indestructible restaurant high chair. Crushed by his unexpected incarceration, his world was shattered. Wailing was his sole means of consolation. Upon seeing my face, forgetting his newfound prison, he laughed. And then he began a game of hide and seek with his moving the table number in front of his face (and mouth)- he was an expert hide and seek player, btw. His father caught on and started laughing and took a breath when he realized his child was actually interacting with someone else he, too, could see. IT was a fleeting moment, and I found myself in an unexpected seat of joy because we looked up and met each other where we were. 

Jesus loved the people around him, immediately and intensely. He loved those Pharisees, disciples, and crowds. His clever word play this week invited the Pharisees to take themselves less seriously, to think less of the direct results and easily seen tactics, instead he wanted the Pharisees to lean into grace, love, and the “why” beneath the protocol.  
Similarly, we, too are to look up and be surprised by who might be across the table from us. 

Tables are made for all to gather 

Seats should be plentiful 

Positions are for governance not gloating, enhancing the beloved community not exploiting. 

While seats might sometimes be uncomfortable, we are always gathering around the table.  

We have work to do 

And sometimes the seat doesn’t always fit (perhaps it was made for someone else and needs updating) 

Sometimes the chair is just perfect (is that a good thing to encourage moving forward or perhaps a bad thing that evokes complacency?) 

If we start from the seat we are in, I wonder where God will lead us from table to table in chairs and chapters of Love. 

As we head into this new academic year, with the newest members of the church included, what new tables and chairs might your find yourself in?  
Where might your heart be expanded in a new space? 

May our hearts and lives swell with God’s presence gratefully and graciously! 

Amen. 

All We Have is Time: Duty or Devotion

Trinty Church in the City of Boston 
Proper 11, Year C 2025 
July 20, 2025 

Amos 8:1-12 
Psalm 52 
Colossians 1:15-28 
Luke 10:38-42 

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

Holy Guest and Gentle Host, 

draw us to your feet until 

our hearts are quiet in your presence; 

then send us to the sink, 

the streets, the spreadsheets 

not driven by need but carried by love. 

May our listening deepen our labour, 

and our labour return us to listening, 

until every breath and every task 

speaks one language: 

your abundance. 

Amen.i 

The old saying goes, “Timing is everything.” 

What comes to mind when that phrase is said? I love pondering all the things that rush into my mind…. 

If you are in the Trinity Choir you have learned “If you are early, you are on time, if you are on time you are late, and if you are late- you are left behind.” 

If you are musical-ly inclined, you might think of Les Misérables’ “The Time is now” in the the chorus of “One Day More” sung right before all of the storylines head into battle- the entire company gathers singing this line for various reasons of love, passion, and rebellion.ii 

If you are a baker, you (and if you are me) set a timer to know the exact time to check on whatever is cooking, rising, setting, or cooling. Because I get distracted by one more project… 

Timing is everything. 

And so we hear in our reading from Amos today.  
God says, “Behold Amos, a basket of summer fruit.” 

Like the peaches coming into season right now- the fruit is juicy, it is ripe for the picking. NOW is the time to harvest the fruit. Amos, everything around you is showing you that your work of care/planning and preparing is time for action, time for the doing. 

The intentionality of the growing season has born fruit and much like a ripe avocado- the time is now, use it wisely. Do not delay. 

In our Gospel reading today, we hear an exceptional and yet very familiar story. A story that only appears in Luke. 
A story of two sisters and a home. 

A story that appears smack in the midst of Jesus’ journey towards Jerusalem and his beginnings in Galilee. We are in the midst of Jesus teaching about the practices of faith. From parables to gatherings, Jesus is seizing the moment to share what the ripe fruit of discipleship looks like. He is direct and pointed. Jesus does not waste time with pleasantries. Calling to whoever will listen, disciples, crowds and even in the most intimate of spaces, a home, Jesus speaks to the time is now to live out the life and call of God. 

Mary and Martha, we are told that they are sisters by birth and we see, like siblings often are, that they are so different. 

Mary- meaning the beloved- coming from the Hebrew name Miriam, the sister of Moses who sang the song of joy on the far side of the Red Sea.iii 
Martha- meaning mistress of the house- coming from the Aramaic for head of the household.iv 

Curious how even the names root themselves in faith and function. 

As we hear this familiar story, it is easy to side with one sister or the other. 

One can naturally feel compassion for Martha- I mean the disciples just received a parable about hospitality and caring for each other. Martha is just doing the hospitality work that needs to be done, and her name literally commands her to do. Feelings of justification, of appreciation for the faithful doer are desired. We will hear echoes of Martha in the older son when we hear the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The Faithful doing what must be done. 

We hear also of Mary, the one who sits at Jesus’ feet to listen, to share in the teaching. A woman sitting at the feet of the master, breaking the rules of a patriarchal society and being fully accepted by the master. 

It’s easy to side with one or the other, I mean, Jesus in fact says that “Mary has chosen the better part.” Which, on the surface, seems to nullify all those of us who do a lot. Those who are busy being busy.  

While Jesus’ words directly point to Mary’s devotion over Martha’s tasks, Jesus is not dismissing hospitality as unimportant. Jesus is digging deeper below the surface. His direct words challenge Martha’s core motivations for the work she is doing. Pointing out her distraction and worry. 
Much like the lawyer of last week asking about “what I must do for eternal life” and subsequent description of what loving your neighbor looks like, hospitality, neighboring, life as a disciple centers itself in prayer, in listening, and then the life of action follows.  
Making time in our lives to center upon our relationship with God compels us to action. Compels us to open our hearts and doors to those around us. Invites us to gather in community each as we are, jumping in to be present, use our gifts, and care for those around us. 

To all of this action in our lives, Jesus sees through Martha’s indignation and asks Martha and us “what drives our busy-ness?”  
Duty first or devotion first? 

Mary and Martha do not embody the right or wrong solely in this one setting. In pointing out their actions, Jesus reflects on the motivation behind all of these sister’s actions. What bears fruit in our lives? Now is the time, Jesus says, now is the time to center downv, to listen AND then commit to action. 

Mary’s actions of contemplation, of listening to the teachings of Jesus, does not mean that she never got up to do the dishes, never cleaned the house, never helped out. Rather, in her prioritizing her time with the divine she was centered for the things that lay ahead.  

In Martha’s frustrations with her sister- Martha’s work had become exactly that: Work only. Duty. Obligation. Distraction and Worry. Rather than the fruit of devotion and a gift of care and compassion- Martha’s work became the burden rather than the joy. 

Jesus speaks desiring our whole heart.  
He calls Martha out on being distracted- or fragmented, or disconnected from the whole. 

Forgetting whose she was.  
Forgetting that the gift of hospitality comes from the love we have received and the desire to share that love with those we encounter.  

There is a saying attributed to Mother Teresa that when she was asked “how do you prepare for a full day” she answers with “I get up earlier to start that much more in prayer”- Mother Teresa set her day apart beginning with centering herself in the life of prayer with God before heading out into her day. 

We gather weekly around this table bringing all the things that are fragmented in this world. The things that threaten to tear the fabric of us all apart. With tremendous amounts of grief of the loss of a loved one, the uncertainty of the economic and environmental climate, and the stress of the roles and responsibilities of daily life, it is understandable that we are tired, exhausted, exasperated with ourselves and others. 

AND 

We, too, desire to be whole. 

Weekly, we gather seeking restoration and wholeness. 

We gather for prayers, for scripture, for listening. 

We Listen so that we might bear fruit. 

Might serve from devotion rather than duty. 

Might bear fruit with our prayer driving our actions 

We gather and we then scatter- sent out into the world- to take the portion of wholeness out into the world. 

To take our peace/piece of restoration into the world. 

We each embody Mary on our best days and Martha, too! As we continue to be transformed by God’s love in our lives, I invite you to reflect on what this love looks like in your life. 

Set the timer to make time for prayer and reflection. 

Sing the rallying chorus with the actors, “the time is now.” 

Show up early and see what you might find in that grace of being in the midst rather than rushing. 

Timing is everything, especially when it comes to savoring the knowledge that God loves you, calls you and inspires you to do the next thing with grace, humility, and courage. 

Holy Guest and Gentle Host, 

draw us to your feet until 

our hearts are quiet in your presence; 

then send us to the sink, 

the streets, the spreadsheets 

not driven by need but carried by love. 

May our listening deepen our labour, 

and our labour return us to listening, 

until every breath and every task 

speaks one language: 

your abundance. 

Amen.vi