What a blessing it was to have some of our graduating seniors up front this morning. What a blessing it was to be in this space, in person, and have members of the congregation bless them and send them forth into their next chapter.
Like so … read more.
Threshold is our spiritual theme for this new month of May. Threshold.
We cross over thresholds all the time. Those of us here in person did to get into this building this morning. If we came in through the Main Street doors we stepped up and … read more.
Later this month around Passover Seder tables, the story of the liberation of the Hebrew people will once again be told. It is a familiar story—and one that deserves retelling. For it reminds us that freedom and liberation are almost never easy.
First there’s Moses, chosen … read more.
When our Eliot Chapel was being designed and built almost 100 years ago, one of the scripture passages that was chosen to be inscribed on the building, there on the corner of SW 12th and Salmon, was from the Book of Micah in the Hebrew … read more.
There’s something, something, inside of me
Screaming, let me live out loud
Let me live, let me live
Let me live out loud.
Afraid to be strong
And too strong to be afraid
Is anybody near me?
Does anybody feel me?
Let me live out loud (Let me live out loud)[1]
Let … read more.
In our reading the morning, the poet Joy Harjo says:
“Let’s remember to thank the grower of food
The picker, the driver,
The sun and the rain.
Let’s remember to thank each maker of stitch
And layer of pattern,
The dyer of color
In the immense house of beauty and pain.[1]
In … read more.
We will remember those in our community who have died in the last year and be graced with Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in D minor.
I learned early on in ministry that the covenant between minister and congregation can be mysterious and complex.
It was early in my time here in Portland. I was certainly still trying to figure out just what in the world it meant to be a minister. … read more.
One day this summer, on a warm Friday afternoon, a dog named Tillie showed up on our front porch. Tillie was a shepherd and collie mix with a beautiful thick black and tan colored coat. We didn’t recognize Tillie from the neighborhood but she seemed … read more.
As we approach the height of summer, many of us, at least in normal times, would be off on some kind of adventure. In the past, for those of us privileged to do so, that would be taking long-planned trips to all kinds of places.
This … read more.
