Stillness
I find myself Stopping this morning Over and over Just for a moment or two Closing my eyes Resting my chin And the heaviness of my heart And soul On my Hands Where my fingers are interlaced Into a shelf In these frequently occurring moments There is a stillness That falls upon me It is … Continue reading Stillness
I Asked for a Prayer
I asked for a prayer For the new year One with just a few words That will match my breathing And will sing effortlessly In my heart And yours I wanted a prayer That I could feel so deeply As if you had pushed me deep Into a pool of water That I paint over … Continue reading I Asked for a Prayer
Autumn morning
Today The early morning is quiet Gone are the constant buzzes The unceasing hums Of cicadas That for the last month or so Have announced The shortening of days The lengthening of nights The deepening of darkness Surrounding the golden moments Of Summer’s ending light The lone chickadee Chirping the morning news From the branch … Continue reading Autumn morning
The Heart of the Wilderness: Third in a series for Season of Creation 2020
Like so many people, when I was in grade school, I had to memorize and perform poetry. And like so many students along the way, in the fifth grade, I memorized and performed the words of Robert Frost, from probably his best-known poem, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening. Whose woods these are I think … Continue reading The Heart of the Wilderness: Third in a series for Season of Creation 2020
Healing River Waters: Season of Creation 2020
In the 1995 wildly popular Disney animated movie, loosely based on the life of Pocahontas, there is a song about rivers. This was a favorite movie of my two older kids, Ethan and Grace and it was a favorite Disney movie of my father as well, who one afternoon took us all to see it. My father … Continue reading Healing River Waters: Season of Creation 2020
Earth Home: Season of Creation 2020
Sometimes, I think that we can just feel it—our connection to the land, the way that God created humans to feel connected to, amazed by, and grateful for this gift of the soil—the neighborhood of the land. If we are really paying attention, I think that there is something in the very life of the land … Continue reading Earth Home: Season of Creation 2020
Season of Creation: Forest Talk
In so many ways, these days, I recognize that I am an environmentalist. Actually, a theo-environmentalist might be a better way to describe who I am and who I am becoming more of in this time in my life—a theologian/environmentalist, deeply concerned about care of creation and about helping others to pay attention to the myriad … Continue reading Season of Creation: Forest Talk
Held
Today the prophet Micah Spoke to me Asking me to consider deeply What it means to love kindness And all I could think about was Holding the world Holding God’s people Holding you What does it mean to hold someone Or everyone Is it a form of mercy Or compassion Or tenderness If I am … Continue reading Held
From Doom…to Hope
Last week I encountered a feeling that I never, ever imagined that I could feel, and the encounter left me feeling shaken and uncertain in a time of uncertainty. I felt doom. Doom. As Dictionary.com defines, I felt “unavoidable ill fortune” and for a moment or two or a hundred, I did not see any way or anything … Continue reading From Doom…to Hope
Extravagant Hospitality
A Sermon for June 14, 2020 First United Methodist, Parkersburg, WV Genesis 18:1-15 I remember very little about my maternal grandmother, Ruby Mae Arthurs Oliphant. When I was quite young, she suffered several strokes and spent the last five years of her life bedridden, unable to talk or communicate. My mother said that really, she had not … Continue reading Extravagant Hospitality
