Off for a relaxing weekend with my gang of 5, aka the CGs, aka the girls. We’re going to Palm Springs this time (one of us just moved out to CA). I don’t know why, but I love the desert.
Much hilarity will ensue.
‘See’ you Wednesday.

Several months ago, a 22-year-old woman died while driving drunk near our house, on a busy street that snakes through a patch of woods. I drive that road to work every day, so I see the makeshift memorial her family put together.
I.
you are remarkably sober
as you assemble what you need,
a strange array of supplies:
glue, feathers, […]

(Does anyone else think of that old Monty Python bit, Erizabeth: Episode Thlee, the Almada? That’s literally all I remember.)
[spoiler free]
Went to see it today. I’ll not add much to the volumes of stuff written on this movie already…
Comic Book Guy: Last night’s Itchy & Scratchy was, without a doubt, the worst episode ever. […]

“Introduction to Poetry”
-Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to water-ski
across the […]

In my mind, this is what normal people do on a Sunday—wake up, lie around for a while, have a leisurely breakfast, read the paper, maybe mosey on to a house of worship if that’s their cup of tea. We got to be normal today, and it was great. Today was youth Sunday and senior […]

PPB asked me in the previous set of comments whether I’ve been to Iona.
The short answer is, No.
I’m not sure how to characterize the other answer, which is, Yes. So I’ve been told.
Skeptics are really not going to like this one. It sits uncomfortably with me too. But I’m OK with the discomfort. If you […]

In honor of trinity sunday this weekend…
Thanks to jo(e) for this (link above)
Three names you go by:
Mommy? (inquisitive)
Mommy! (petulant scream)
Mommy… (murmured when I open her door first thing in the morning)
Three screen names you’ve had:
When you’re reverendmother, you only need one.
Oh wait, I was also “midnight wonder” on Ebay… which refers to my late night […]

What can I say? I spent much of last week listening to an Indigo Girl up close and personal, and “eavesdropping” as she and her dad talked with one another about the spirituality of music and the power of song to transform the world, and it was wonderful; but two and a half hours of […]

Three years ago I took an amazing class called “The Preacher and the Poet.” We read a lot of poetry, played around with sermons, and wrote silly impromptu creative writing assignments. This one’s been on my mind lately; we had to write a real or fictional story of a family member meeting someone famous.
PastorG is […]

Tomorrow afternoon my mother flies in to spend the weekend with little she-who-is.
Tomorrow evening R and I drive 160 miles to Philadelphia and spend the night.
After a relaxed Saturday of sightseeing, we see U2 in concert that evening.
Immediately after the concert we drive home.
The next day is Pentecost, a “high holy day” in the church.
While […]

I was inside one of the buildings on the National Cathedral grounds today when a few of my colleagues came running inside. Seemed they wanted to check CNN.com to find out why a fighter jet had just flown overhead.
I shrugged and said, “It’s DC.”
Later I heard the news.
See, here’s what tickles me about this:
The Vice […]

Random piece of news first: our beloved child-care provider is moving 40 minutes away. Her last day is two weeks from now.
Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap!
We are looking for someone else, and there’s a woman in the church who does child care in her home and is […]

(You can really tell lately how bad I am at titles… really, I suck at them. Ah well.)
I have been having the coolest week. I am attending a week-long lecture/workshop with Don Saliers (of Emory Univ./Candler School of Theology) and Emily Saliers (of the Indigo Girls). The workshop centers around their recent book, which you […]

99% of the time, by the end of worship service #3, I am utterly sick of my own words. Today is no exception. So, here it is, and it is what it is. Thanks to Songbird for sharing her wonderful sermon, and ChicagoRev for sharing his wonderful sermon (via e-mail). It was a fun week […]

Ahhhh… finished.
We had to employ a little Sesame Street when the nap ran short, but it’s done. Now I just have Sunday School to plan… don’t worry, I won’t subject you to that process.
Saturday night service begins in 30 minutes. Bless the Saturday night folks. They get all the energy of opening night, but all […]

The Anne Morrow Lindbergh quote above (“I began these pages for myself…”) are especially pertinent to these sermon entries, which are starting to feel very self-indulgent. (I know, I know… “starting to”?) Just know that I recognize it too, and will be as overjoyed as anyone when Sunday rolls around.
Around the middle of the week, […]

It’s late, not much to report tonight. Worked on the sermon today, got a little stuck, walked the outdoor labyrinth at the church to try to get unstuck, didn’t really work but I got to enjoy the beautiful day.
The blah nature of this post mirrors the blah stage of this process.
Hardly even worth clicking on… […]

Wednesday looked a lot like Tuesday—little bubbles of sermon popping up every now and again, but nothing substantial (except the eureka moment in Tuesday’s comments). I really needed Wednesday to look more like Wednesday should—over the hump, right? Thursday better be more than bubbles, or Friday will turn out not to be Day Off so […]

Tuesday is steeping day for me. Not much intentional work happens on the sermon—some of the juicier morsels get put in the Crock Pot, and I’ll check sometime tomorrow to see how the whole concoction’s coming together.
What this means in practical terms:
I’ll glance at the text throughout the day, and mull.
I might even work on […]

Here’s Monday afternoon, if you’re me.
Sit on the couch in your office with a pad of paper, and various translations of the Bible. Take a deep breath. Center and focus. Remember it’s not about you.
Read one of the texts assigned for Sunday. Mutter to yourself, You’ve got to be kidding me. There is nothing here […]