For the first Ash Wednesday since Ardelle and I entered the Episcopal Church 24 years ago, I won’t receive the imposition of ashes on my forehead by another Christian today, hearing the loving and unadorned reminder that I am dust, and to dust I shall return. This is a great loss for me.
The 100 North Main building is an instance of something I’ve wondered at since my house building days. One would think that humans wear out the things we build. And, of course, we do. Boot soles and palms rub stair treads and handrails slowly to dust one touch at a time.
Shakespeare’s Othello and Much Ado About Nothing are two sides of the same coin. Both stories feature couples in love and evil antagonists who plot to thwart that love by sowing lies amidst the good wheat. Much Ado‘s comedic arc, where the lovers overcome Don John’s shadowy machinations to ultimately be joined in marital bless,
On the day before Epiphany, a parishioner sent our clergy team an email sharing the tradition of Epiphany chalk. It is a centuries-old practice in some communities to bless chalk on Epiphany so that people may use it to bless their homes. The chalking is done above the lintel of doorways and looks like a
On a recent trip to novel., to redeem a Christmas gift card, I picked up a collection of essays by Molly McCully Brown titled Places I’ve Taken My Body. Molly would have been one of our LPS preachers last spring if we hadn’t had to shut down for the pandemic that is still
I’ve observed two diametrically opposed approaches to religious life and the pursuit of God.
First is the pursuit of novelty. I don’t think we can often be accused of this in the Episcopal Church, by and large, but the pursuit itself is certainly familiar to all of us in a consumer-driven society. “If I just had
In the movie “Lawrence of Arabia”, Major T. E. Lawrence was asked why he was drawn to the desert. He answered, “Because it’s clean.” Perhaps that is why John the Baptist began his ministry there. The wilderness of the Holy Land is not like those we have in the Mid-South. Instead of woodlands, marshes, and
At noon today (as I write), an Irish friend and I will Zoom (suddenly a verb in our vocabularies that needs no explanation). Pádraig is a poet and theologian and has worked in conflict resolution in the North of Ireland. He’s going to record poems for our Advent Service of Lessons & Carols,
by the Rev. Amber Carswell
A famous artist that Missy admires liked a photo of hers on Instagram. The problem was that it was a picture of Missy and me at the beach; the artist has never liked a picture of Missy’s artwork. This was the second time in a week I’ve had this conversation: a theologian I follow and
Last Wednesday morning, Ruthie and I arrived early at 157 Poplar to be among the first hundred people or so to vote in Shelby County. I must confess that I’m a “political junkie” who enjoys following campaigns and elections. But one thing that troubles me about our process of selecting leaders and deciding issues is