“Expectantly Waiting for ‘Idle Tales’ of Hope”

April 4, 2021

It’s been years since I have been in a class with Kim Stafford, who served as the poet laureate of my home state of Oregon. But this week, listening to his words flow from the zoom screen at a poetry reading and discussion, I found myself taken back to being 20, wanting to sink into […]

What We Have for the Revolution

March 28, 2021

As a child, I was convinced that Jesus’ disciples, and the crowd that greeted Jesus on the colt, waved and laid down sword ferns. Growing up in Oregon, our church would harvest ferns from the forests for Palm Sunday. I never really thought about what grew in the fields around Jerusalem, and since this […]

“The One Who Knows Our Limits”

March 21, 2021

I have a hard time admitting that I have limits. I know in my mind that there are challenges I can’t tackle by myself, but that doesn’t stop my initial drive to go it alone. I think part of my stubbornness comes from being Dyslexic. In the Second Grade, my family moved to a new […]

Distributive Justice

March 7, 2021

The same Spirit and zeal on the move in our reading this morning, is among all of you. I have the pleasure of watching it move through this community and set us to action in our world. This community is full of people who challenge and push our world to meet human needs. On Fridays, […]

Not Quite What We Imagined

February 28, 2021

Sometimes what we hope for, when it comes, isn’t quite what we’ve imagined. For most of my twenties, I wanted, more than anything, to live connected to the earth, to creation in a deep way. I spent my summers, as much as I could, working and living in wild places, in the Cascade Mountains, a […]

“Rooted, but Different”

February 14, 2021

In this morning’s scripture reading, Jesus is in the presence of his spiritual ancestors. He’s on a mountain top with the two leaders who bring to the Hebrew people the Torah and the Hebrew Prophetic tradition, that provide the foundation for Jesus’ ministry. These traditions are not static. In both Moses’ and Elijah’s lives and […]

February 7, 2021

I got my start in climate activism when I was a Senior in College. I was working for Campus Life, and I was invited by Professor of Economics Eban Goodstein to be a part of the largest one-day teach-in that has ever occurred in the United States, known as Focus the Nation. Teams of students, […]

“One Yes…And Then Another”

January 31, 2021

Today we read one of my favorite stories about Jesus and his parents. If you’re ever wondering if you’re doing a good enough job parenting, just tuck this story away. You probably haven’t lost your child for an entire day and taken three days to find them. If you have, well, Jesus turned out […]

“Dreams Fulfilled in Bodies”

January 3, 2021

There is a joy in life that comes from reflecting. When we make space in our lives for watching for the Holy in the ordinary, we are sometimes gifted with seeing it burst into our world, iridescent, full of hope. I’m a fairly impatient person by nature. I want to make things happen, to be […]

“Surprising Gifts of Gratitude”

December 20, 2020

Much to my surprise, as a lifelong night owl, I have become a morning person this year. Finding myself up before the sunrise has been a bit disorienting. And yet, each morning, there is peace, drinking coffee in my favorite chair, seeing the first sunlight filter through our neighbor’s fir trees across the street. Silently […]