Church Pulpit Posts

One of the reasons that we feel tired at night is the sheer number of decisions we make during the course of the day. Some of them are not of great consequence (Should I do laundry today or tomorrow?), while others carry more weight (How shall I respond to that request from my colleague or family member? Can I afford to get a new phone?), and others are of the utmost importance (Should I change jobs/career? Should I get married?).

As you may know, Ignatius of Loyola (whose feast day was July 31) developed a set of “Spiritual Exercises” expressly to help people to make tough decisions − especially those that are life-changing, such as entering into marriage or the religious life….

Years ago, before it became a cultural colossus and while it was still playing at the Public Theater, my family and I saw the musical Hamilton. We got there by chance, really. My father had given us theater tickets for Christmas and asked me to pick a show. I didn’t know much about Hamilton at the time, but it seemed to check enough boxes that each Pearson would find at least something that would make the experience enjoyable….

Summer becomes a time to work on ourselves and our ability to be the light and find meaning in our journey, even when it seems uncertain.

In our daily lives, we often find ourselves caught in a whirlwind of tasks and responsibilities. Work, family, social commitments, and even church activities can fill our schedules. We become so engrossed in our duties that we forget to pause, to breathe, to rest. Yet. In the midst of our busyness, we see Jesus inviting His disciples to a quiet place to rest. This is not a mere suggestion but a clear instruction from our Savior.

Jesus understood the importance of rest. He knew that His disciples, after their rigorous ministry, needed time to rejuvenate….

I am on the mailing list for the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the monastic order located in Cambridge, MA. The theme of their most recent newsletter was “Growth,” and included articles titled “Awake,” “Patience,” “Know Limits,” “Anxiety,” “The Breaks,” and “On the Hard Road.” The final page if the newsletter offered some loosely connected reflection questions. Depending on how the pieces of your life are aligning just now, the rhythm of life may slow down a bit during the summer months. Maybe there is just a bit more time and space to reflect….

With both the Pride and Independence Day celebrations in late June and early July, it can be easy to overlook some of those whom we commemorate in the church during this time. For example, on July 1, we remember two remarkable people: Harriet Beecher Stowe and Pauli Murray. The Rev. Dr. Murray is by far less well-known but also had an outsized impact on both society and the church. During her long and varied career she was a lawyer, a writer and poet, a civil rights activist, a professor, and eventually, an Episcopal priest. On January 8, 1977, Murray was ordained the first African American woman priest at the Washington National Cathedral….

As I write this, bishops and delegates from Episcopal churches across the nation (and from area missions and the Convocation of American Churches in Europe) are meeting in Louisville, KY for our 81st General Convention. Every three years our church gathers and makes decisions that impact our common life. The structure through which this happens is bicameral: there is a House of Bishops, which includes all active and retired bishops, and a House of Deputies, which includes four lay people and four clergy elected from each diocese….

Webster’s dictionary defines “Faith,” as “confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea or thing.” There was also this definition, “Belief and trust in God.”

In Mark’s Gospel we find the disciples in a boat, on a rough sea, afraid of capsizing, and Jesus is sleeping. They were afraid. Their faith that everything will be okay is lacking. They call out “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Jesus calmed the storm, and turns to the disciples and ask, why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”…

Last week I had the honor of attending the end-of-year musical conceived and performed by students at P.S. 169 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Parishioner Zach Pearson was one of the teaching artists who facilitated the production, helping the students take their ideas and turn them into a live action story. Because Zach knows I am all about performance of any kind (and also because I am his mom!), I got the invite—and accepted with enthusiasm….

As we get closer to the solstice on June 20, the official start of summer on the calendar, it is a time of hopeful anticipation of the blessings we may look forward to this season. As you may know, I am a fan of Tess Ward’s The Celtic Wheel of the Year: Old Celtic and Christian Prayers, which lays out daily prayers for use month by month. For Saturdays in June, the theme is the “Canticle of Midsummer,” and the prayers play off of the well-known Canticle of the Sun by St. Francis….

This past week, New Yorkers had an opportunity to be amazed. As you may have seen or heard in the news, it was the yearly arrival of “Manhattanhenge”—that time in the early summer when the setting of the sun lines up perfectly with the street grid in Manhattan. Since moving back to the city in 2018 I have experienced this phenomenon only once. Quite by accident, at the end of a day I stumbled upon a large-ish group of people staring west, phones lifted to record the event….