Posts

Ashes to Ashes

We gathered to celebrate my grandmother’s life this Ash Wednesday. Marked with the cross smudged on foreheads, we visited, sharing memories, laughing, crying. 

Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to ashes Dust to dust – Homes destroyed By earthquakes Now covered in dust.

What God Can Do with Dust

Our fifth frozen embryo transfer (FET) was on Ash Wednesday last year. Our first pregnancy ended on an Ash Wednesday three years before that. In between those experiences, Lent became […]

A Poem on the Eve of Lent

God’s beloved dust, fabric of the universe— of planets newly discovered and ruins ancient, broken and us. God’s beloved dust, we’ll walk into wilderness on a Wednesday— a wilderness of […]

Dear Celebrity

Dear Celebrity, The first time I met you was a very memorable occasion. I’d met celebrities of your stature before, but they’d all been a meet-and-greet sort of thing or […]

Swallowing a Bitter Pill: A Lenten Journey

“I’m giving up Lent for Lent!” It is a common joke around this time of year when worship leaders start planning for the Lenten season. I know I’ve said it […]

“Waters of Love” and “Birth Water”: New Poetry

Pastor and poet Sharon Benton sent these poems last month with the comment, “It’s the end of January, so baptism texts may be over…” And yet the themes of void, […]

Do You Want to Be Made Well?

A sermon on John 5:1-9 “Do you want to be made well?” What an Ash Wednesday question. On a day where we traditionally hear about our own sinfulness and are […]