The Mainline Minister

Lent is almost over.  Easter is almost here.  Almost ... but not yet.  So rather than focus on everything you'll do when the future becomes the present, take time to focus on this moment, to repent, to pray, to reflect.  Think about what you've experience this season.  Meditate on Christ on the cross and what this says about God's love for creation and for you in particular.  Do these things and you'll be in better position to celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection.

The weather seems apt for Good Friday, at least here in the Upper Valley.  The skies are gray and drizzle falls from the sky. It is, in all, a depressing tableau. It is on this day that death seemed to prevail, when Jesus was mocked, tortured, abandoned, crucified.  We've all seen pictures of Christ on the cross but how many of us have ever experienced that level of pain, of desolation?  How many of us have had a role in doing someone down? This is the moment we recognize just how cruel, how violent, how destructive humanity can be.  On Sunday we will celebrate Easter, when we learn that Good Friday was not the end of the story.  But lest we fall prey to the dark temptations that entice us, let us meditate on what transpired on Golgotha.  Let us gather at the foot of the cross and see what men and women can do. And let us remember that Christ went to the cross in spite of this, in spite of our failures, our indifference, our sin.  We will give thanks b

The meal that Jesus shared with the disciples on the night before his crucifixion has come to be known as the Last Supper. It has been immortalized through Scripture, in art, and in an age of religious illiteracy, is still one of the most known incidents in Jesus' life.  It was here that Christ shared the bread and the cup, here we he set the outlines for what we know as communion, here that the earliest church found the model for living. But why is it the last supper?  Yes, we know that it was the last one Jesus ate before he was executed.  But it was also the First Supper: it was here that he told us about the bread and the wine and what they symbolize, here that he first gave us this means to memorialize him.  It was here that the Lord's Supper was born. Tonight, in this church and in many others around the world, we will remember with faith and gratitude the Last Supper, the First Supper, by sharing the Lord's Supper.

I am not making this up.  Today is Spy Wednesday.  It's the day that Judas betrayed Jesus to the authorities. His skulking about was reminiscent of spies, who operate in the shadows. Voila, Spy Wednesday, which just might be the coolest name in the liturgical lexicon.  Of course, that's if you set aside what happened. At the heart of the passion story is human failing. Fear, paranoia, betrayal, greed all come to the fore.  Some modern people might look for "root causes" to explain what happened, but if they do, they miss the point.  Jesus died because people acted badly: they did not have moral compasses, they did not have courage, they did not want to go to the light.  They sinned.  If society was flawed, it was because of the actions and choices of people.  This isn't to say that good people were not present, but they did not carry the day.  Men and women still sin today.  We are just as prone to stumble, fall, err, and fail as our forebears.

I don't think today has a sobriquet.  Just like yesterday, this day is a No Name Day in Holy Week.  All of the others have names, famous or obscure.  So what do we do with this day?  Do we ignore it.  Of course not!  It's still a day made by the Lord, still a day in which to pray, love, work, play, help the poor, remember the marginalized, and more.  Don't wait for tomorrow; live this day to the fullest.

This morning, I gathered up the palms from yesterday's service and stowed them to be burned on Ash Wednesday of next year (March 6, if you'd like to mark your calendars). It's rather disorienting to think about next year's Lent, when this year's isn't even over.  But I was reminded that our sense of time, which we might call chronos, is not the same as God's, which we might refer to as kairos. In recent years we've come to know a lot more about our universe, and just how strange it is.  We talk of the space time continuum, and wonder whether time must flow in one direction.  Time isn't just what we see on our watches. As we await Good Friday and Easter, we prepare for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we remember that these events have already occurred.  Yet when the liturgy is alive, we can feel as if we are experiencing them for the first time.  My hope and prayer is that you are alive to Holy Week, that it all seems

Today is Palm Sunday and we are now in Holy Week.  Before us lies an intense journey, where will explore the great range of human emotion and experience.  From the joy of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to his death on the Cross, we are invited to stand witness to see how God in Christ is always with us.  My hope is that this week, and in all the ones to come, we will be with Him.

Today is the last day of "ordinary" Lent.  Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.  But before we rush ahead, and relive Jesus' last days, let us take a moment to give thanks for these past weeks of Lent.  These ordinary days have been anything but, with our efforts to repent, to reflect, to pray, to remake ourselves extraordinary for they have been blessed by the Lord.  When something ends, something new may begin.  We've all heard that.  But how about this, before something new may start, something must come to a close.  We need to wrap up this portion of Lent, not just to move on to the next, but because it's time.  Today, reflect on where you've been, what you've done, what you wish you'd achieved, and then say a prayer of thanks to God, for giving you this sacred moment.

Every spring, a huge used book sale takes place in the Upper Valley.  I'm planning on donating some of mine to the effort, which raises money for some colleges.  In principle, it's easy. I give away some books, of which I have too many, get a receipt for my donation, and somebody will hopefully finds something new and interesting to read.  Simple. No, no really.  Every book has a story to tell, and not just the one on the printed page.  I remember where I bought my books, when in my life.  They've been with me a long time and letting go isn't easy.  It can actually be hard.  But I should do this.  Looking at the stacks on my floor, I probably have to.  More books will come into my life, and I need a place to put them.  So, I'll prune.  Sigh. Lent is a good time to reflect on how hard it can be to let things go, especially things we like but that may not be good for us.  Bad habits?  Surely you've got at least one?  How about letting that

I'm sure that I'm not the only one to feel that there's too much news to process these days.  And not only is there a lot of news, it's coming at us with increasing speed and frequency.  Looking at my phone I'm inviting more information in to my life.  Plus, if we don't like what we're being told, we can always find a different version offering an opposing perspective by just clicking a mouse.  Thanks iPhone.  Thanks internet. When I was a kid, we received the newspaper and could watch local TV.  I remember when our regional paper published editions twice a day.  When cable didn't exist.  We have a chance to reflect on the news of the day.  That world is long gone.  No more Uncle Walter on the evening news. So what are we to do?  Well, we can choose not to be overwhelmed.  We can choose not to look at our phones all the time.  We can take advantage of what's good about the internet and not seek to confirm our biases, but be wi

I've been receiving emails from Amazon.co.uk for more than a week now encouraging me to take advantage of their "Early Easter Sale" savings.  Question: just what is Early Easter?  Your answer is as good as mine.  Obviously, a marketing gimmick. Now, as I sip my morning tea and wish it were a cup of coffee, I can see the merit of an Early Easter.  Less Lent! But that's like shortchanging your diet or exercise regimen or savings plan.  It might feel good at the moment, but you'll be the worse for it in the long run.  We need Lent.  All of it.  The 40 days, and the Sundays, too.  All of it.  In fact, to be honest, Lent should be longer.  But that pose another kind of problem.  Let's just appreciate the Lent we have.  Easter will be here soon enough, there's no need to rush it. I'm going to live into these last few days of ordinary Lent, throw myself into Holy Week with all it has to offer, and then, on April 1, I'll celebrat

Today is the beginning of "spring."  I use quotation marks, because this seasonal moniker appears to be a cruel ruse, at least here in the Northeast.  I shouldn't complain.  We in the Upper Valley of NH and Vermont are looking at temperatures in the 30s to 40s with sunshine tomorrow; our neighbors further south in Boston are facing up to 10 inches of snow.  So, happy "spring." Still, despite my resort to ironic quotation marks, it is indeed spring.  Today is the vernal equinox.  It will get warmer, the snow will melt, new life will be born.  No matter what it looks like, the reality is spring weather is coming. And that brings us to Easter. Our culture sees Easter as a day to fuss over bunny rabbits and to dye eggs.  A weird mix of commercialism and pseudo-pagan practice has emerged to give definition to this day for many people.  Yet we know better.  We know that Easter marks God's triumph over death in the person of the Resurrected

What's truly important in your life?  What really matters?  And do you spend time on that thing, or are you distracted by other claims on your time?  If so, is it really that important to you? Something to think about on a Monday morning, as you plan for the week ahead.  I know mine will be busy.  And at times I won't spend time on the things, the people, that are important to me.  It's not because I don't care.  I'll be distracted, called away, a victim of poor planning.  So I'll try to do better. I'll try to be more focused and to use an overused word, mindful. Lent is about doing better.  First we admit what we get wrong, then we say sorry, and then we try to get it right.  With God and with people.  It's about saying what's important and then making that our priority, even if that requires some planning.  It's about doing the hard work to make it possible to focus on what's important.

This Sunday marks the last full week of 'regular' Lent, with next week being Holy Week.  This is a good moment to reflect on our Lenten journey.  How and how much have we repented?  How have we grown in faith through our disciplines?  Have we been changed?  Has this Lent made a difference in our lives?  Has it mattered?  There are no right answers, but I would suggest these questions should be asked and answered honestly.  If you haven't done what you planned on during these weeks, fear not.  Lent is not over!

Today is the feast day of St Patrick, the man who brought Christianity to the Irish some 1400 years ago.  He has become something of secular icon in modern times, the patron saint of Guinness stout.  What a sad development. I'm all for having a good time.  I enjoy a fun party.  But to conflate one of the great apostles of the faith with drunken revelry suggests we've lost the plot.  Mind you, the Church hasn't done a very good job of talking about what Patrick did, nor in emulating the life he led.  That doesn't mean we can't try to do better. During this Lent, let us remember the man who though he was abducted and subjected to slavery in a foreign land so felt the love of Christ, that when freed, he wanted nothing more than to go among the people with whom he'd known captivity to share with them his Lord's faith.  Talk about a generous, faithful spirit.  Talk about a man of God. If only he were with us today.

Sorry this is coming to you this late in the day, but things have come up.  I thought I might write this early in the morning but, well, here we are.  The temptation was to skip this today, but I made a commitment to you and to God to follow this discipline.  So, better late than never. Which is something we need to remember about repentance during this Lenten season: it's never too late to repent, never too last to turn back to the Lord, never to late to make things right with other people. We're closer to Easter than we are to Ash Wednesday but that doesn't matter.  There's still time to repent, to pray, to try to make things right with others.

Today is the Ides of March.  I'm sure you get the reference, whether from history or Shakespeare, to the murder of Julius Caesar.  I'm not sure that many young people would.  History is ultimately about stories.  If those aren't passed along, they fade from memory, and can be lost. Like the Ides of March, the Christian story is in danger of fading and the way it is being represented today isn't encouraging.  We have a responsibility to tell the story of Jesus, not in a way that is 'relevant' but neither in a way that will confirm our biases and preferences.  We need to do so with honesty, integrity, and faith. In fact, more honesty, integrity and faith would be good in all parts of our lives.  Not a bad thing to commit ourselves to during Lent.

Happy Pi Day! It's not on the liturgical calendar, but this day honoring a very special number reminds us that God's glory is revealed in the most astounding ways.  Despite their best efforts, physicists  and mathematicians have yet to explain how the universe came into being.  We Christians believe we know: God.  While the biblical accounts of creation should be read as mythic, they point to a truth: something, someone, was responsible for the universe.  The cosmos is a grand and wondrous thing, whether in the formation of galaxies or the minutiae of math, like pi.  3.14 is a number that delights, in part because of its name.  But what it represents is remarkable, too. This Lent, let us give thanks to God for the gift of science in all its forms, and let us repent for humanity's misuse and abuse of it.

Yes, it's snowing again.  Hooray for the local ski areas, hooray for the kiddos who get another day off, hooray for everyone who loves the white stuff.  For everyone else, tough darts.  Shoveling beckons tomorrow, and meetings have had to be rescheduled.  Frankly, this storm is a major inconvenience.  To many people, it will be much worse. We often look at things from a very narrow perspective, and are oblivious to what others might be experiencing.  Empathy, however, is central to being human.  We need to try to understand what others are experiencing.  Only then might we understand their motives, their wants, their demands, even their needs.  We don't have to agree with them or acceded to whatever they want, but we will be better informed and more humane. During this Lent, we should repent for our self-centeredness and we should pray for some perspective, some empathy.

One of the appointed psalms of the day, the 51st, expresses the conviction that the author would be the recipient of God's mercy. That might seem presumptuous, as if the psalmist thought he was deserving of the Lord's favor.  Instead, he is a penitent, confessing his sin, knowing he 'has done evil in your sight.'  Still, he comes to God seeking mercy.  We don't like to think of ourselves as sinner. Today we are taught about self-help and self-actualization, that all that is wrong is 'systemic' or society's doing or, at the least, is somebody else's fault.  While there is no doubt corporate sin, there is also personal sin, that wrongdoing which is our own and which we must acknowledge. The psalmist did that.  And he knows that having made his confession, having accepted accountability, he my expect mercy from God, the divine judge.  This is one of the powerful truths of our faith and this season of Lent is a time for us to accept th

Today is the fourth Sunday in Lent.  We're now deep into this season of penitence and can even catch a glimpse of Easter coming.  But we're not there yet.  We're here.  How has this Lent been for you?  Have you lived into this season?  Have you truly repented and made amends?  If so, keep on going! If not, there's still time to get right with God.  Two weeks until Palm Sunday.  There's not a moment to lose.

I wrote what I thought was a pretty good reflection and had it ready to go at 8:30 this morning.  But I was in Boston for a meeting and my wifi hotspot didn't work.  Then the wifi network where we were meeting wasn't available.  So here we are on Saturday night.  Tomorrow we begin one of the banes of modern existence, Daylight Savings Time.  It starts so much earlier and ends so much later in the year than when I was a kid.  Can't we leave anything alone?  Why do we have to mess with time itself?  Part of it is a desire to have the world be more to our liking. Part of it is because we like to play at being God.  But whatever we do, whatever we try, we will fail.  Those proverbial best laid plans will come a cropper. I'm not saying we should just give up or be resigned, but I do think a little more humility in our approach to the world, to God's creation, might be a good Lenten discipline.

Yesterday, I went out to shovel the drive.  A foot of snow had already fallen and thanks to the city's efficient plowing, the berm at the end was huge and packed.  A lot of work beckoned. I had taken no more than two shovelfuls when a pickup with a plow pulled up, the driver smiled, and - wham - the berm was gone.  We exchanged a couple of words and I got back to work. I don't know the man who was driving the truck.  He just happened by when he could do good.  Some might call it a random act, but I disagree.  He chose to clear my berm.  His act was anything but random.  So, too, with an act of kindness.   They're never random.  Somebody always had to choose to do them. This Lent, try showing some extra kindness to others.  It will be worth your effort, will make somebody's day, and will please the Lord.

Yep, another weather-themed reflection. Most of the snow has fallen.  Where there was bare grass yesterday, now lies a foot of cover.  The mounds had more shrunken to a manageable size but now they will once again loom large.  Digging out seems so Sisyphean. But it needs to be done.  We need to get to work, to school, to church, to play, to wherever we are going.  If done properly, it provides a good work out.  And the old snow and the new are not the same.  You remember the old saw about no two flakes being the same? Well, its true for mounds and piles and berms. Our sins, whether the personal kind, or the ones we perpetrate as communities, keep on building up.  Lent is a reminder that despite this reality there is hope.  We can take time to hack away at them, to reduce the pile, to get ahead.  And on Easter, well, Sisyphus finally will make it to the top.  Imagine that.  Life conquering death, hope conquering sin, love conquering hate.  But we have to he

A winter storm is once again visiting us.  Right now, flurries are falling, but later on the snow will fall heavily.  It all seems so familiar.  But a storm at this time of year is different.  With average temperatures higher than earlier in the year, the snow pack will melt much more quickly.  The storm will hit hard and fast, then be gone.  We should enjoy the snow while it is here. Lent is a bit like a late season storm.  While it's unfolding, it may seem intense, it may be intense.  But soon, very soon, Easter will be here.  Our time for repentance and reflection will have passed by and we'll move onto other things.  Let's live in the moment.  Let's put aside our jejune thoughts that we've been here before, it's just another Lent.  Instead, let's live into this moment for all it's worth.  Because before we know it, this Lent, precious, unique, blessed, and holy, will be gone.

When I was in Oxford last summer, I often went to Christ Church Cathedral for one of the offices of daily prayer, usually evening prayer.  It was wonderful stuff, even when I felt antsy.  The psalms, the anthems, the rhythm.  I miss that. One way to keep up with this tradition, is through an app.  Yes, an app.  The Church of England publishes one called, aptly enough "Daily Prayer," which offers three services for the day, morning, evening and night.  It's not the same as using a prayer book or being in a sanctuary, but it's great that this aid exists.  Perhaps you'll give it a try. Perhaps you already have a preferred form for your prayer routine.  Just make sure you have one. This Lent, let's all resolve to take up a prayer routine.  We know someone is waiting to hear from us.

This morning, after getting my haircut and before heading to the office, at stopped in at the Dartmouth Coop.  In the front window of the store was a picture book about Easter, a sihloutte of a man in the opening of a tomb on the cover.  But on the table on the inside, where books for people to touch and look at where displayed were a whole lot of bunnies, and no Jesus.  In the center of the table was a sign, announcing 'For the Season.' No. First off, spring is nowhere to be seen.  A winter storm warning for this week is forecasting up to a foot of snow. Second, why are celebrating bunnies?  Because their fecund and represent life?  Then why not focus on the reason for the symbol: Jesus?  Why the adorable neo-pagan stand in? Third, the season has a name: Lent. Am I tetchy?  Yes, a bit.  It's bad enough the wider culture is ignorant of or even hostile to what the Christian faith has to say.  But that's a reminder of what a cock-up the church

It's Sunday morning and I'm at the church.  Early in the morning I have the place to myself.  Nobody else has arrived.  Later, the building will be filled with conversation, music, prayer, the sound of running feet, and more.  But for now - silence.  I'm alone. Or am I?  I recall the story of the call of Samuel.  The young boy and the his boss, the old priest had the sanctuary to themselves at night.  But God was present, even if they did not recognize his presence.  Is God here?  I pray he is.  And I hope he is where you are, too.  There's a very good chance he is, for Scripture tells us of God's steadfast loyalty.  Wherever we go, whatever may befall us, God will be present.  It may not seem obvious, or even likely, but God is there. And he's here.  So, I'm not alone.  Thank God.

Yesterday, my son Chip suggested I write about taking care of the environment as a Lenten practice.  He's in good company - the Church of England has made care of Creation a centerpiece of its Lenten messaging this year, specifically finding ways to cut back on the use of plastics in our lives. Why the environment?  What does this have to do with being a Christian?  Well, for starters, God created the earth.  While we claim to worship him, we then go and trash the planet.  Seems hypocritical.  Second, there's the verse in Genesis about humanity being given dominion over the earth and all that is in it (Gen. 1.28).  As Christians, we profess that Jesus is Lord -- and by extension, we look to him for a model of leadership.  Dominion to him is service, not exploitation.  So, taking care of the environment is something we should do cheerfully. I'm not suggesting we substitute earth worship for Christian practice.  There's a name for that: paganism and I

A bit later than usual, yes.  But I still wanted to share a message with you.  That's part of a discipline.  Stick to it. Don't give up. Don't make excuses. But there needs to be more.  We need to be moved by our faith.  Sometimes that movement will be powerful, other times not.  But we need to look for it, react to it, and then respond. Jesus didn't always have things easy.  And, things did not end well for him in Jerusalem.  Until they did.  Yet he kept going, kept making his way forward, kept sharing the good news that the Kingdom of God was near and that we should ready ourselves.  The hour may be late, but the sand has not yet run out of the hourglass.  So let's attend to our Lenten disciplines, whatever they may be, whatever they may require. And then resolve to get an earlier start tomorrow ...

Nancy Reagan's campaign against drugs came in for a lot of ridicule from some quarters but the truth is, she was onto something.  The first step to resisting temptation, to turning to a new path from the one that is destructive or leading nowhere is sometimes simply saying 'no.'  I was reminded of this this morning when I went to breakfast and I was presented with a cup of black coffee shortly after I sat down.  Good service!  And tempting, too.  But I quickly told my waiter that it was Lent and I was drinking tea.  He whisked the java away and some minutes later, returned with hot water and tea.  It was that simple. That easy.  But sometimes we make things hard.  We focus on all that can go wrong, on the inconvenience, on the things that really aren't germane. So, if you're struggling with your Lenten discipline of denial, or just getting bored with it and want to stop, just say no.