“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 I’ve always felt comfort taking in this verse from Micah. It is firm yet pliant. Prescriptive yet open to interpretation. My name is Christian Simpson, and my family has been at…
Oh my goodness! On the heels of St. Patricks’s Day, I find myself in the penultimate days of my sabbatical. This week finds me prepping for my last hurrah — a ten day pilgrimage to Scotland & England – for which I am very pumped! The tour starts in Edinburgh, then moves south to York,…
I had a religious experience. You’re supposed to have religious experiences on your sabbatical, right? Mine was not in a chapel or a church or on a mountaintop, mine was at Constitution Hall at a concert dedicated to the Goddess of Song – Joni Mitchell. My musical idol received the Library of Congress’s distinguished Gershwin…
Once upon a time, Emmanuel observed midday prayers with our Muslim brothers and sisters. Late January 2017, EEC reached out to MAS and they reached back. That is, Emmanuel Episcopal Church (post the initial infamous travel ban) reached out in friendship to the Muslim American Society Community Center. I called their office and left a message: “We are with…
When I first agreed to preach today, I thought, sure I can do a children’s homily for youth Sunday, I have taught kids for a long time. Then I remembered I had to do both services, which meant an adult message as well. With the children, we will talk about what Jesus means when He…
Clergy are notorious for encouraging others to take care of the important things in their lives — but in practice we are really horrible about taking care of them in our own. We postpone the most basic of life’s tasks, always trying to somehow squeeze them in between Sundays, meetings, and pastoral appointments. So, I…
An Invitation to a Holy Lent Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the…
How many of you out there are Downton Abbey Fans — fans of the period piece BBC drama about the Crawley family? A very upstairs|downstairs kind of affair, it ran for six seasons and recently there was a movie! I am not sure I watched it all but I vividly recall a scene in the…
Who of a certain age does not remember the Jefferson Airplane (or was it Starship?) 1967 psychedelic anthem: Go Ask Alice? Inspired by the works of Lewis Carroll. To spark your memory, you can listen to the music. Lyrics quoted here in full. One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones…
So far, on my sabbatical, I have only missed my second Sunday. Three if you count Covid-Christmas-Day! What possible stories could I have to tell after only 10 days? Well no story in particular really. More so, I want to share with you the serendipitous nature of storytelling itself that has saturated my first week…
Editor’s Note: Many thanks to the author for granting permission to post her beautiful and personal reworking of the beloved Advent hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel. O come Beloved Bridegroom stay In love’s embrace until the break of day. Breathe deep the almond blossom perfume And rest among the dew-kissed lily blooms. Rejoice! Rejoice!…
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