May 26, 2014 | Monday Muse, Pentecost, worship
It’s Memorial Day in the US, but now that the parade has passed me by (literally), I need to plan Pentecost — that great holy day on the Christian liturgical calendar when we try to be surprised by the Spirit (“What??! Tongues of fire?! We...
May 12, 2014 | justice, Monday Muse, news, worship
Monday morning, and I cannot put this thought to rest: we have consumed the names of the kidnapped Nigerian girls for the sake of our own piety. If Facebook is any indication, yesterday (Mother’s Day) many American churches prayed for the Nigerian girls and...
May 5, 2014 | church, justice, Monday Muse, worship
Oh my, but the Revised Common Lectionary readings for this coming Sunday resonate with me like fingernails down a chalkboard! Today’s Monday Muse for your worship preparation is less encouragement and more caution: beware the pitfalls of easy ecclesiology, of...
Apr 28, 2014 | Monday Muse, stories, worship
Some stories are so familiar that they are hard to hear afresh. Some stories are so familiar that we need to hear them afresh. (My friend and colleague Casey FitzGerald at Faith and Wonder offers encouragement for telling scripture in such a way that our ears &...
Apr 21, 2014 | Easter, liturgy, Monday Muse, worship
The brightly-colored hard-boiled eggs gradually disappear, mixed into cobb salads or egg salads or eaten plain with a dash of salt & pepper. The chocolate bunnies and pastel candies disappear faster. Pastors and priests — who have been going full-steam since...
Mar 3, 2014 | Easter, Monday Muse, resurrection, worship
Friends and colleagues, a brief note before you read today’s Monday Muse: During the season of Lent, I write prayers daily as a spiritual discipline and I post them here on my blog. The Monday Muse feature will take a Lenten hiatus while I post daily prayers. If...
