I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. Book of Common Prayer, Liturgy for Ash Wednesday, p. 265 Photo by James L.W on Unsplash In the Anglican-Episcopal tradition, [...]
A prayer card on the bulletin board in my office reads: O Lord, you have given me so much. Please give me one thing more -- a grateful heart. Hydrangea - Floral Symbol of Gratitude Owing to my long-standing fascination with word origins and derivations, I wondered whether gratitude and grace were related. It turns [...]
Wait – why are we talking about Christmas at the beginning of March? It’s been over for two months! But as I see it, Christmas isn’t over, because Jesus is not a seasonal Savior. His life-giving love and redemption are needed and available to us every day of every year, for as long as we [...]
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16) No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13) For some reason, the concept of Jesus’s death as [...]
Lent is the liturgical season of preparation for Easter, similar in nature to Advent which is the time of spiritual preparation for Christmas. In the early days of the Church, individuals who planned to be baptized at the Easter Vigil service spent the 40 days of Lent in prayer, fasting, and self-denial. Their preparation to [...]
The previous blog post raised this question: How could the news of the Light of the World be spread to all people everywhere in the time of Jesus and afterward? Only a small minority of the population could read and write, and there were only rudimentary communications systems. Given such constraints, how would you go [...]
At the conclusion of the Advent season we celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation of our Lord, popularly known as Christmas. The liturgical season of Christmas lasts for twelve days, beginning on Christmas Eve and ending on January 5. In stores and homes the Christmas trees and decorations are often back in their boxes by [...]
Some scholars who specialize in studying ancient religions say that to understand the spiritual practices of a people it’s necessary to know whether they believed that their gods were beings of the heavens or of the earth. This information helps explain the derivation of their images and icons – sun, moon, stars and comets versus [...]
If only I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard (or said), “if only:” “If only I had more time, I could get involved in the local _____________ agency (fill in the name of a service organization of your choice).” “If only my parent hadn’t fallen on the basement steps, s/he wouldn’t need [...]
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” proclaims the familiar song. That is surely an apt observation: it’s been looking a lot like Christmas since before Hallowe’en. Are you willing to do an easy experiment? Every time you think of it today, take a moment to look around and allow the sights and sounds [...]