A View From The Earth

Martha and Mary Orthodox Icon This is the sermon that was offered up during Morning Prayer on July 29, 2020 on the feast day of Martha and Mary of Bethany. This service was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Muscatine, Iowa during a time of congregational discernment. The scripture readings were Psalm 36:5-10, Romans 12:9-13, and Luke 10:38-42. O God, be with us today as we discern together. May the Holy Spirit be present, as we remember that we need to both serve you and listen to your voice.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Have you ever been able to juggle?   I can juggle one orange at a time. And sometimes two. But definitely not three... In the reading from Romans, we hear lots of ideas about juggling priorities as Christian people.  Here are four: Love one another. Be ardent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Extend hospitality to strangers. And then in the Gospel story we just heard, we...

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash This is the sermon that I offered up during Morning Prayer on July 26, 2020. This service was held via the zoom platform for St John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The reason that services weren't held in person was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the congregation from gathering together. The scripture readings were 1 Kings 3:5-12, Psalm 119:129-136, Romans 8:26-39, and Matthew 13:31-33,44-52. O God, may you be with us as we try to be builders of your kingdom and may we learn together what your love means in our lives and how we can better follow your will. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fake news! Fake news! Lin Manuel Miranda will never sing again. Regis: his rollicking final months. Joan of Arc buried in the Seine.** Deacon Kevin becomes a traveling duck juggler. Now, at least one of those is actually true. How would you determine the truth? You might chec...

This is the sermon that I offered up during Morning Prayer and Eucharist on July 5, 2020 for St. John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The Morning Prayer service was held via the zoom platform in the morning and an in-person Eucharist service in the afternoon. The in-person service followed protocols for lessening the spread of COVID-19 such as no singing and the wearing of masks. The scripture readings were  Zechariah 9:9-12 , Psalm 145:8-15,  Romans 7:15-25a , and  Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 . O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and loving our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another in love as Jesus taught.  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. When I was a boy, maybe about seven years old, I was introduced to the responsibility of my own chores. We had a couple small sheds behind our hog house where runts or injured ...

This is the sermon that I offered up during Morning Prayer on May 31, 2020. This service was held via the zoom platform for St John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The reason that services weren't held in person was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the congregation from gathering together. The scripture readings were Numbers 11:24-30, Psalm 104:25-35&37, Acts 2:1-21, and John 20:19-23. O Lord, you have given us peace and have forgiven us. May your breath move through us so we may do your will here on earth. In the name of the Holy Trinity, one God. Amen. Today is Pentecost! It’s not just a day to wear red and white to church.  It is remembered as the day that the Holy Spirit came down from heaven and filled the Disciples of Jesus.  It was noisy, just like a day of protest.  There was a violent wind, just as a night filled with unrest.  There was prophecy, and tongues like fire rested on the Disciples. And they were filled, filled with the ...

This is the sermon that I offered up during Morning Prayer on May 10, 2020. This service was held via the zoom platform for St John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The reason that services weren't held in person was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the congregation from gathering together. The scripture readings were Acts 7:55-60, Psalm 31:1-5&15-16, 1 Peter 2:2-10, and John 14:1-14. Let us pray: O God, may our hearts not be troubled. May we believe in you and in your son Jesus who came to redeem all of us with the help of our advocate the Holy Spirit. Amen. One thing that I’ve noticed in the last few weeks is that there seems to be more conspiracy theories than normal coming from all over the world and for many of us, they are maddening. I suppose that is to be expected in a world dominated by the 24/7 news cycle, the use of social media as a political weapon, and the COVID-19 pandemic. People are searching for ‘the truth’, as they see it, as a way t...

This is the sermon that I offered up during Morning Prayer on March 29, 2020. This service was held via the zoom platform for St John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The reason that services weren't held in person was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the congregation from gathering together. The scripture readings were Ezekiel 37:1-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8:6-11, and John 11:1-45. Let us pray. O God, bring us Grace at this time, this time of hardship for many, to believe in you and to bring us to you. In your name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It’s been quite a week. Week two, of course, is when this all hits home. We’re no longer on a staycation, We who have the privilege available to stay home and practice physical distancing should do so. The headlines, too, are an uncomfortable reminder that death is a part of life. The reading from Romans today tells us to ‘To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the ...