Wildfires, Drought, Fascist Regimes, and Moments of JoyReadings and Prayers for These Times I live in Colorado, where wildfire season is now year-round. And I live in Denver, which has had its own issues with pollution, where some days you can’t even see the mountains. It’s even worse, now, in… Read More »Are We Having Fun Yet?
It is said that when people stand at the edge of things – the rim of the Grand Canyon, for example, or the top of a tall, tall building – many sometimes experience a pull from the depths, a terror that holds all attention; what researchers have come to label… Read More »Creation at the Edge: Prayers and Readings for Election Season 2024
We see Christ crucified in acts of violence throughout God’s Creation, against God’s children of all nationalities, religions, species and types. The cry of Christ, the words of Christ’s anguish, explode out of Creation’s pain. Here. Now. In these shadows of Holy Week, in this interplay of light and darkness,… Read More »A Holy Week Service of Lament and Hope for Creation
Welcome to Lent! So it begins! You might ask yourself, what are we giving up for Lent this year? When I served churches as a pastor, I usually gave up sleep for Lent! But we are here together on this Lenten journey not to give something up (except, perhaps, sleep),… Read More »Lent: a Season of Lament and Hope for Creation
I want to celebrate with you that I’ve published a devotional guide for progressive congregations and individuals! I’ve written this book because I believe words matter. The words we use reflect how we view the world and our place in it. The words we use determine how we act in… Read More »My new book – “We’re All in This Together: Not Ordinary Devotions”
Some time ago, I posted the Tenebrae for Creation service here on the website. In the spring of 2023, a few of us in my congregation gathered in our sanctuary and conducted an informal version of this Tenebrae. We recorded the service, and with the exception of a couple of… Read More »Tenebrae for Creation video
O beautiful and wounded Creation, we confess we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed… O God of love and unity, we lament the many ways we find ourselves separated from others, from ourselves, and from you. We’ve allowed our beliefs, our politics, our biases, and our fears… Read More »Lent: A Journey from Separation to Connection, for the Love of Creation
We know what is happening. We know what it takes to bring healing to our earth. In confession and grief we will enter into the shadows. And with each other – in community – we will sit together, and the light will return. It’s all of one piece. Doing needs… Read More »Lament, Rant and Affirmation of Faith
Oh God of time and space we confess we are running out of both. Church is good at lament, and knows that it needs to be voiced as a community, a nation. In fact, one of the tasks of the prophet, according to biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann, is to help… Read More »Prayer of Confession and Lament for Creation
What do we say when there are no words? Where do we find a solid center when the world is going crazy around us? Out of the depths we cry to you, O Lord! —from A Ritual of Lament and Promise Colorado, where I live, had yet another mass… Read More »A Ritual of Lament and Promise