We often see what we want to see. AbrahamMaslow is credited with coining the phrase, “If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.” Another psychologist, Aaron Beck, realized that looking for negative things can be a contributing factor to depression. Beck noticed that many of his clients had ingrained destructive thought patterns nearly … Continue reading Luke 21:25-36 “The Fig Promise”
The Sunday sermon after Thanksgiving Day should be a no-brainer. We have much for which to be thankful, and so we count our blessings, be they family and friends, health and a roof over our heads, our cups overflow with blessings, and so shall our tables groan, and our stomachs stretch, till we … Continue reading John 18:33-37 “Black Friday – The One Before Advent”
(I wrote this three years ago, and it seems more relevant today, especially with this week's announcement that Andover Newton Theological School, my alma mater, is selling its physical campus and moving.) This week I was trying to get a feel for what the disciples were thinking and seeing as they walked … Continue reading Mark 13:1-8 “Not a Stone Left”
I’m not much of a fan for dressing up on Halloween, but I love to watch. I am a fan of the psychologist Carl Jung, who spoke to the power of the myths we live by, and the shadow selves that we bury deep inside, yet they slip out and become public when we least … Continue reading Isaiah 25:6-9, John 11:32-44 for All Saints’ Day – “The Shroud Lifted”
Updated with new thoughts on Thursday, October 18, 2012 "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me." I like order and find security in my routines. I like to … Continue reading Job 38:1-41 – From the Whirlwind
“Please leave me alone. I just want to lie down and die.” If I visited someone in the hospital who said these words, I would think they are suffering from major depression or trauma or both. Like many people who are in need of care, healing and love, Elijah rejects help. He would rather go … Continue reading I Kings 19:4-8 “Angel’s Bread”
Bread gets a bad rap. It’s the carbohydrate’s fault. Our daily bread sustained humanity for centuries, but now, sadly, it has too many “carbs” for our more sedentary ways. Please, dear God, do not give me my daily bread or I shall roll quickly to the Valley of the Shadow of Death. My old breakfast … Continue reading John 6:24-35 “The Bread of Life”
Take a moment with me and step into this scene. You are now a first century Galilean. Its pay day so you stop and buy a few barley loaves and while you are at the fish market, you hear the growing fame of Jesus, the carpenter from Nazereth, who confounds the Pharisees with unconventional but … Continue reading John 6:1-15 “Sharing Our Bread”
This is my first sermon at First Churches, Northampton. I hope to be a regular writer again now that I have settled at a full-time church position. Today we begin a holy conversation. That may not be apparent since I am the one with the microphone and doing all the talking. However, preaching should … Continue reading Mark 6:14:29 “Herod’s Kingdom”
Two weeks ago I joined the ranks of people succumbed to a bug going around. I’m not sure why we call getting sick “a bug” but it did feel like an infestation. My skin got hot and prickly, my muscles began to ache as if I had been working hard, wrestling with an attacker. It … Continue reading Mark 1:40-45 – “Be Made Clean!”
With all my soul 