Good Morning Friends, This morning we come to a section of Matthew which encompasses a mere six verses, but involves two different stories, one on each of these two topics—one on death and one on taxes. The sage of American History, Ben Franklin, commenting on his hope of the new U.S. Constitution’s permanency, and perhaps … Continue reading What Does The Lord Require? →

Good Morning Friends, Today’s lectionary text remembers Biblical heroes, some of whom sacrificed their lives and others who survived many of life’s battles. We look up to these heroes for they do things we think we cannot do. Sometimes they walk on water, but at other times they do very practical daily service. Unfortunately, we … Continue reading Do We Put Our Heroes Of Faith On A Pedestal Or Embrace Their Tenacity In The Midst Of Real Life? →

Good Morning Friends, Jesus has an amazing gift for taking the traditions of the past and extrapolating their core ideas and the memories of the good times associated with them to create something new. Hopefully we get a sense of it in today’s lectionary scripture. We see in them that success is not measured by … Continue reading When Is Enough, Enough? →

Good Morning Friends, Today we have both Martha and Jeremiah complaining about life and then being reassured as to God’s love. Their lament though highly personal is also a reflection of the community’s cry that we were born both as individuals and as a culture protesting the kind of people we are, with all our … Continue reading Will We Learn To Mature Through Our Experience Of Feeling Alone? →

Good Morning Friends, Today we have Abraham interceding for Sodom and pleading for mercy for the wicked believing in his heart that the nature of God was and is to do right by the innocent. But the somber reality is that no one is really innocent. Those who live in corrosive environments and become accustomed … Continue reading How Can We Learn To Pray For Righteousness, Mercy And Love? →

Good Morning Friends, Most of us spend way too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important. On our recent trip to Europe, we had multiple incidents where we were the last people on the plane or train because of delays over which we had no control.We even shared in … Continue reading Do We Need To Spend More Or Less Time Doing Or Listening? →

Good Morning Friends, In today’s Gospel reading Jesus is directing us to stop treasuring our earthly treasures that do not last. But continue to treasure our heavenly ones. The point is that if we are not going to be controlled by our chattels, we must resist treasuring worldly things over life itself, and persist in … Continue reading Are You Boasting About Your Possessions And Being Possessed By False Treasure? →

Good Morning Friends, Parting with money can be a very troubling experience for those addicted to it. But in the end, you cannot take it with you and neither can I. Getting joy out of making money and even saving it is more readily processed. However, giving money away can be very pleasurable too. Do You … Continue reading Do You Know How To Make Giving Fun? →

Good Morning Friends, When we examine the fascinations of our life, what we give to financially, we suddenly discover what is important to us. We discover that not everyone has a generous heart and that few people are cheerful givers. We learn about greed and guilt, but hopefully also generosity. Friends, few love in a … Continue reading What Do You Love To Give To Even If It Feels Like A Sacrifice? →