Monthly Archives: February 2022

Guest Post on Ukraine from Archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, Republic of Georgia

Posted on February 27, 2022 by Maren

I am so very grateful to my friend Malkhaz Songulashvili, Archbishop of the Peace Cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia for sharing these words A Time of Sadness and A Time for Action Many of us did not believe that Putin’s Russia … Continue reading →

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Transfiguration Vision

Posted on February 26, 2022 by Maren

(This is the last of my week’s ‘slant” reflection on Transfiguration Sunday and I am recalling not preaching, but sitting in a pew listening — thanks Brad Hirst for the great sermon. A little of the time I was distracted … Continue reading →

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Guest Post by Carol Hallman — Jesus on the Mountain

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Maren

To the mountainHe wentWhenever he neededTime apartTime withThe holyThe SpiritThis mysticalGod When heWasn’t sure(and even when     He was)When heHad questions(and even when     He didn’t)When he wasConfused   (and even when      He wasn’t)When he justNeeded to thinkAnd to listenAnd be Before he … Continue reading →

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Holy Communion Liturgy for March 6, 2021

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Maren

This first Sunday of Lent I touch on the scriptures of the Revised Common Lectionary, Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and Lent 4:1-13, in ways I hope don’t require their use by those who follow the Narrative Lectionary or another way of choosing … Continue reading →

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Prayer for Ukraine under invasion

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Maren

God of plowshares, pruning hooks,and peace-making,translate such old archaic wordsinto hope today in Ukraine that your promise to shatterbows and swords, spears and shields,may mean nowan end of missile strikesand long-range artillery,the silencing of Kyiv’s air-raid sirens. We pray for … Continue reading →

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On the Mountain

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Maren

It’s often just a small detail in the shiny storyabout Jesus and the mountain –getting to talk to folkswho have been gone a long time. I would like Harriet Tubman, please,that Mosesto walk and talk with me.I want Langston Hughes,dreams … Continue reading →

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Another transfiguration perspective

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Maren

(Day 2 in Transfiguration week … what was it like to not be on the mountain … what is it like at any time to feel left-out?) The insiders grab pitons and crampons,some spiritual version of gear,and start to climb,but … Continue reading →

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The light is on the story

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Maren

Twenty minutes before the servicecomes the momentwhen the above-balconygold-patterned stain glass windowshines right on the Bible. Maybe in coming weekdayswhen no one’s in the sanctuarythe angle will be right,and the sun-slant of the seasonrest, not on carpet or pulpit,but on … Continue reading →

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Sugaring in the graveyard

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Maren

hangs the white bucketson dark trunks leaning over headstones.The tipped and broken ones,some over two hundred years old,are weatherworn, becoming anonymous –a Martha, wife of someone,some Samuel without a surname,who died at sea or war,a carved cornerof willow tree over … Continue reading →

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Prayer for Petropolis, Brazil

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Maren

Hold, O God, in the stillnessof your tender carethe tears that follow the great rains,the losses that came withalmost three hundred landslides. We pray for those who lovedthe ninety-four people who have died,and the many who are injured,and ask your … Continue reading →

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