Faith in the Cracks
Episodes
176 episodes
Dreaming of What is Not Yet
Dreaming of a world that hasn't come about is very much part of the creation story. God saw possibility and created out of the void. How might we imagine how things could be different than they are and work toward them. It is not unlike MLK Jr....
Hidden Parts of the Church
Say the word church and many people think of worship spaces, preaching, and music. If you are Presbyterian like me - potlucks and casseroles too. But the church has a side rarely talked about or seen. Budgets, Building, staff, committees and ev...
Why Church Still Matters
Culture says be an individual. And many people say "I'm spiritual but not religious" or "I can be a Christian on my own." However, being a Christian has always meant being in community. Being together.
Co-Creators
Creativity is not limited to painting, music or poetry. It is what happens when we wonder and when we create space and time for God to be at work within us. What happens when we slow down? How can we look at creativity in a broader light and co...
The Spiritual Practice of Release
On a recent trip to Florida, I took dissolvable paper and wrote things that i wanted to let go of. Old patterns and understandings of myself that no longer worked. As I stood in the waves on the shore, I let the waves hit my ankles and I put th...
Paying Attention
We may ask "Where is God?" But what if sometimes we just aren't paying attention? God can show up in unexpected ways, but God also shows up in the ordinary, everyday things of our lives as well. Be on the lookout for God at work this week. ...
What we Carry
We all carry things, both physical and within us. We carry emotional loads and mental to do lists. Some are heavy and some are not even ours. Scripture reminds us that we are not asked to carry things alone.
Waiting isn't Wasted
Sometimes life brings a season of waiting. Which I certainly am not good at doing. Waiting is hard in a culture that values getting things done and continually moving forward. But what if the time of waiting is a time when God is working behind...
Sent
At the ascension we were told to wait and pray. At Pentecost the Spirit came to empower. Now we are sent. Matthew 28 and the Great Commission to go and make disciples, Luke 10 and the sending of the 72. We too are sent into the world to make a ...
Summer Rhythms
Summer brings a change in temperature and also a change in the rhythms of life. Let's pause to remember the differences and the joys of summer and remember that the pace of life sometimes means to slow down and enjoy the world around you. ...
Let Go and Let God
Sometimes I struggle to let God handle things. I pray and I try to surrender worries or problems that are beyond my control, but I find that often, way too often, I pick them back up...repeatedly. Why is it so hard to let God handle life's big ...
Why are you standing there?
The story of the Ascension of Jesus in Acts 1 is one of my favorite. There is a line where the angels have appeared alongside the disciples who have watched Jesus ascend and they ask "Why are you standing looking toward heaven?" Basically, it i...
Unknown Yet Known
In Acts 17, Paul encounters an altar to an unknown god in Athens. He then goes on to talk about the God he knows. The God Paul speaks of cannot be confined to temples or altars, his God is bigger and more mysterious and unknown, yet at the same...
Tended
Psalm 23 is a familiar passage for many. It is a reminder that we are tended by the Great Shepherd. What does it look like to allow ourselves to be tended? To be led and restored. To know we do not walk through darkness alone, but that God is a...
Happy Easter!!
Happy Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!And pastors everywhere are tired. Many services but a good tired. The joy of Easter is that love triumphs. The women found the empty tomb and in their fear they were also overjoyed. May we go...
Hosanna to Hallelujah
As we enter Holy Week, many churches were filled with shouts of Hosanna! and people waved palm branches. Some churches also read the passion story of Jesus before Pilot. And while some churches will observe Holy Week and hold services on Maundy...
Three Essential Things
In her book "The Soul's Slow Ripening" Christine Valters Paintner talks about the practice of Three Essential Things. Finding those values that speak to who we are called to be in a particular season of life. Those things may change as we move ...
Learning By Heart
Do you remember memorizing things when you were growing up? Poems, Bible verses, songs? There is a difference when we memorize things and when we learn them by heart. To learn something by heart, we let it become a part of who we are, we know i...
The Now and Not Yet
Sorry about last week. But honestly, it felt garbled and haywire. This week has not been much better. The war, the rising cost of things, the human lives lost. We are not yet in the Kingdom of God. We are not yet to the fulfillment of the promi...
Wilderness
The beginning of Lent starts with Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days before being met by the adversary. Hungry and tired, Jesus is met with tests that begin with If you are the Son of God...prove it. Yet Jesus knows that his identity i...
From Light to Lent
On Transfiguration Sunday, we stand on the mountaintop — glimpsing the radiant glory of Christ before turning toward the ashes of Lent. In this episode, we explore the movement from light to dust, from revelation to repentance, and from spiritu...
you are...
In Matthew 5 as Jesus continues his sermon on the mount, he tells those listening "You are the salt of the earth;...you are the light of the world." Not you will develop into these things, but you are. You already have what it takes to flavor t...
St. Brigid and the Groundhog
We are at the turning point of winter. This time has been recognized by many cultures, across many centuries and across many continents. Imbolc, St. Brigid's Day, Candlemas and Groundhog Day all arrive in the first days of February and mark a t...