Week 3 (Year 4, NL)

Jesus’ word of insight to Nathanael seems a lot like a carnival grift.

Jesus quotes the Jacob’s ladder story in Genesis.

The “Son of Humanity,” the “true Israelite,” and the broken places in our communities

The stark liturgical space that Harvard Episcopal chaplain Rita Powell envisioned before COVID is now a reality.

But that doesn't necessarily mean the sacraments belong there.

Sometimes we don’t see what’s right in front of us.

We have forgotten how to dream the land.

One time at a women’s retreat, I was asked to tell my call story. I told this woman the whole, convoluted story—about serving as a missionary in Japan, about being restless in my work and volunteering for leadership roles in my church, about discovering old journals where I had written about my desire to study theology, about my memory of sitting in church as a teenager and hearing the pastor give the sermon and saying, “If I was a man, that is what I would want to do.” I told her that it had taken me a long time, but I finally realized that God was calling me to be a pastor.

She was not impressed.

I often feel that my whole time in ministry has been one when the word of the Lord is rare and visions not widespread.

The dream of a ladder linking earth to heaven is surely among the most familiar images of biblical literature. From "We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder" to "Stairway to Heaven," the idea has been deeply embedded in our collective consciousness.

From where does Nathanael's confession, his insight, come?

If you’re Eli, you’re not sleeping that well when the boy comes trotting in to disturb you with his nonsense.

Reading the call of Samuel, one wonders why the lectionary confronts us with such a dread epiphany.