Here begins what I hope will be a rich--albeit challenging--practice for me this year. At the start of Advent, I began keeping a journal with me to practice writing poetry. I have spent many, many years reading many, many words. For this year--2020, which lends itself to the image of vision, to the practice of... Continue Reading →
Open Your Eyes, People! An Advent Sermon
Advent 1 Year A December 1, 2019 Open Your Eyes, People! Open Your Eyes! Each time I watch the film Steel Magnolias, I fast-forward from the time Shelby falls down in the kitchen to when they are arriving at the cemetery for her funeral. (If the person next to you doesn’t seem to understand... Continue Reading →
The Grace of Wrecked Things: A Sermon
November 17, 2019 Isaiah 65:17-25 Luke 21:5-19 The Grace of Wrecked Things The Summer after my first year of undergrad, I returned to my parents’ house and got a job working at the paper mill with my father. I rotated through the same shiftwork schedule my father had worked for three decades at that point.... Continue Reading →
A Book Launch…and so Much More
My heart is full of gratitude. It is just full. Last weekend a small group traveled to the Wisdom Ways Center in St. Paul, MN, to celebrate the launch of the new book Contemplation and Community: A Gathering of Fresh Voices for a Living Tradition. We stayed on the second floor of the novitiate of... Continue Reading →
What you are holding in your cup…
This came through my friend Matthew Wright's Facebook feed, and I wanted to hold it here. Because it is so true. I don't know who wrote or said this, but it's true.
Oh, Merciful Sword–A Sermon
Proper 15, Year C Luke 12:49-56 August 18, 2019 Oh, Merciful Sword This morning, I wanted to make a manuscript available, so I typed a reflection. I sincerely hope that you feel invited to take a copy of this reflection home to read, to keep the conversation going. This is another one of those... Continue Reading →
Out of Many, One–Out of One, Many
Morning thought: We live in a time when some seek to convince us that there is only so much of "it" out there. Power. Resources. Power. Money. Power. Fame. Whatever "it" is at the moment. We fight among ourselves, seeking out an "other" who can be blamed, from whom we can take more of "it"... Continue Reading →
Rilke Speaks of Circles: A Poem on my 40th Birthday
Rilke speaks of circles, imagining who we are, how we live--and the Spirit-- always expanding, despite our impulse to fear. Some deal in scarcity, the sadness of lives anchored in shallow waters, in sight of deeper promise yet unable to stand it beyond their ankles. Rilke speaks of circles, and I believe him. The circle... Continue Reading →
Lord, teach us to pray: Sermon notes for July 28
Notes on Sermon for Sunday, July 28 Stuart Higginbotham What is Prayer? Something so ubiquitous in our culture, yet do we really understand the deeper essence of what prayer is? I remember as a child staying up late at night, kneeling next to my bed until the carpet made pock marks in my knees,... Continue Reading →
Thoughts on a Contemplative Reformation 