The Baptism of Our Lord 2025 Stuart Higginbotham Your Life is Your Practice Here’s a poem from the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh to open today: Oh you who are going in circles, please stop. What are you doing it for? “I cannot be without going, because I don’t know where to go. That’s why... Continue Reading →

Glass Jars I have seventeen glass jars stored in a cupboard with flashes of color from olive and sundried tomato labels and the day’s light refracted. When I cannot sleep I gently take one off the shelf and slowly raise it to my mouth, our lips touching, both cold, as I whisper the fear that... Continue Reading →

Salvation is a Black Moon I had never heard the name before but I had held its promise in my hands, while fear dripped like thick, black ink onto the crisp, white page, like crows gathering, calling. Salvation is a black moon. Just because I cannot see it does not mean it is not there,... Continue Reading →

Verum vitae (For John 1) When Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars he was not saying we should resign ourselves to such existence rather he was saying in every moment of our lives whether there be pain or strife or the gray cloud of grief or the cold touch of uncertainty... Continue Reading →

Stuart Higginbotham Christmas Sermon 2024 See if you can picture the scene:  The culture at the time was a complex one, with many different people all connected and struggling to find meaning in their lives with many languages and customs making contact. The ruling class was only concerned about their own well-being, with those who... Continue Reading →

The mark of holiness She stood in the shadows who knows how long watching silently from behind the sepia photographs of my family, her body draped in faded blue and white with the golden rays from her heart streaming out year after year. I might say I discovered her but she waited for me, with... Continue Reading →

Root Mother I do not see you as much as I feel you– know you, the way I know my bones hold me upright as I walk, or the pressure of bare feet on cool grass. You, Root Mother, draw my eyes downward to the earth, where the heart of life beats, the deep throb... Continue Reading →

In the end In the dream, the lady said it will happen much faster now. Not one stone will be left standing on another, the edifice of illusion crumbling with a fierce grace. The dark feminine, that ancient embrace, allows the dark masculine to collapse under the weight of its own insanity, the brittle grasp... Continue Reading →

Sermon for Sunday, November 10, 2024 Psalm 146; I Kings 17:8-16 Stuart Higginbotham It is a question of what sustains us Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth,  for there is no help in them. Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!  whose hope is... Continue Reading →

I do know this I cannot speak of the truth that is rising into being now. Beneath the pain there is a pulse. I dare not speak of that which I cannot fully see, as I turn my head and strain my neck to capture a sight of it, but I feel it in my... Continue Reading →