Earlier this year, and as an outcome of my annual performance review in 2023, I asked the ruling elders to prioritize two activities at MBPPC. These are:
Children and Youth Ministry
Financial Practices and Annual Review.
I am happy to report that we have made progress with both of these activities.
Read MoreWhat a joyful Easter Day we celebrated at MBPPC! It was a bonus that we had warm, sunny weather. But I think we brought our own light and warmth to the day celebrating Christ’s victory over all that separates us from the love of God, and the power of death to keep us from abundant, eternal life.
I want to thank the many people behind the scenes, who worked so hard to make the celebration a success:
Read MoreWaiting.
I have often thought that the most difficult of all spiritual exercises is waiting.
In the Hebrew Scripture reading for Easter Day, Isaiah 25:6-9, we read:
“…Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him so that he might save us” (Isaiah 25:9).
In the Book of Acts, we read this about the risen Christ, before he ascends to heaven:
“While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4).
Read MoreLast Sunday, I tried something new. At Communion, instead of leading the congregation through the long Great Thanksgiving, I omitted that and also did the Institution (the blessing of the Bread and Cup) in silence.
This was my own response to conversations I had with recently retied colleagues. Two of them, who do not know each other and with whom I had coffee on separate occasions in the past two weeks, said that they felt overwhelmed by words went they recently went to church as worshippers. One of them sent me this Wendell Berry poem:
Read MoreAmong the books I am currently reading is one titled “Mindsight” by a psychiatrist and pediatrician named Daniel Siegel. The book is about healing, in a word. It is about how we have the power literally to heal our brains through exercises that can bring flexibility, adaptiveness, cohesion, energy, and stability to our consciousness.
Read MoreAt the end of last Sunday’s sermon I shared a prayer written by Martin Luther in 1523. In my mind, it articulates grace very well. And it also, in this Lenten season of diligent self-reflection, names our need of God.
Also in my sermon, I quoted a translation of Matthew 5:3 that expresses the same theme very well. The most common translation of Matthew 5:3 is, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
This translation is, “Blessed are those who know their need of God, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Read MoreAs I have mentioned several times on recent Sundays, the series of sermons I am preaching this Lent are intended to strengthen us in hope. It seems to me that hope is a spiritual gift of which the world has especial need. I am struck by how often I hear expressions of hopelessness and despair from all kinds of people.
My sense of the way to strengthen hope during Lent is to keep the traditional Lenten discipline. This is a season of solemn reflection on our lives. Where do we place impediments between ourselves and God?
Read MoreOn Monday, I attended a poetry open mic that I occasionally participate in. The open mic always starts with a small band offering a couple songs, then various poets come forward, one at a time, to read a couple poems. As things got underway, one of the musicians announced that they would open with two songs dedicated to two significant events on this week’s calendar. I suddenly became alert. Obviously, one event would be Valentine’s Day. But could it really be the case, here in secular Seattle, among a group of poets who pretty much are, by definition, a radical crowd, that Ash Wednesday would be invoked?
Read MoreI am still not quite sure what to make of the coincidence of Ash Wednesday falling on Valentine’s Day. One of my sons, and even several of my colleagues, have suggested that, at the Ash Wednesday service (February 14, 7:00 p.m.), I should impose ashes on people’s foreheads in the shape of a heart!
In any case, I am always struck by a single phrase in the opening prayer of the Ash Wednesday service:
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