Sermon: Annoying Grace

"Annoying Grace" (Feb 12, 2012) Through humor and satire, the book of Jonah invites us to critique Jonah's central beliefs: that people deserve punishment, that God's mercy is a form of weakness or soft-heartedness, and that God's grace, amazing when applied to us, is not meant to be poured out for everyone (Jonah 3:10-4:11 [included…

Open Letter to Eat More Kale

I've known local "t-shirt guy" and EatMoreKale.com artist Bo Muller-Moore for a couple of years. Our daughters went to preschool together and are in the same grade (different classes) at school. Bo also volunteers as a driver for Meals on Wheels, which is a program that operates under the umbrella of the non-profit I chair,…

The Invention of Faith?

My husband and I recently watched the movie "The Invention of Lying," written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson (at Internet Movie Database). I'm surprised that I hadn't heard more about this film sooner; I thought it was one of the most interesting and though-provoking movies I've seen in a while. It starts…

When life gives you lemons…

... make a giving program out of lemonade! Stewardship Moment: "Be Peculiar" I needed to share some information with one of my congregations about some strange letters we'd received, and not make it too scary, and also take an opportunity to teach about tithing and challenge folks to greater giving in a fun way, so…

Lessons of the Season

In my life, lessons come in seasons. I like to think that this is because all of life is learning, growing, and cyclical, but it's probably just because I'm thickheaded and it takes a few whacks with a 2x4 upside the back of the skull for me to realize that God is trying to tell…

Finding Jesus

Every week, I have a to-do list for the various aspects of my job (Worship Service, Visitation, Meetings & Administration and so on).Yes, I realize that's very type A of me. Mostly I just like to be able to cross stuff off. Parts of the list are pre-written, and copied so that some recurring things…

In the midst of death, we also live.

I love my kid; she keeps life light. I was in the shower this morning, working on my eulogy (because that's where I always work on my sermons, don't you?). Arianna was obviously playing hide-and-seek with my brother-in-law, because just as I was reaching the second transition in the eulogy (and the conditioner), the bathroom…

My Gray Hair

Lightening the discussion for a moment... For my new readers in Central Vermont (and afar!), I will repeat what I have said elsewhere, I do consider it part of my ministry to be so transparent in my humanness that people can’t help but think, "well if God can use *that*, then maybe God can use…

Back on the Horse

I've been dragging my feet, sermon wise, for the past few weeks, just not feeling it. I was worried that this, the last sermon before a week's much-needed vacation, would be another disappointment. I had switched to next week's lectionary to make it easier on myself, and still was having difficulty with the text. Too…

A good day

Today, I sat down with my treasurers and worked on the 2008 budget. You know, the one for which we had that big giving campaign. No one was more surprised than me when we typed all the numbers into excel and looked at the bottom line, where you subtract the expenses from the inflows. It…