by the Rev. Paul McLain   I have learned that it is important that I not only honor my mom on Mother’s Day but also honor my mother-in-law. Ruthie’s mom Darlene grew up in Weippe, Idaho, a small town where the Nez Perce Indians saved the starving Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805. Darlene is … Continue reading “No Longer Servants, but Friends”

by the Rev. Scott Walters   Five centuries or so ago in Japan, a tea master named Yusai Hosokawa was preparing tea for a warlord when a servant dropped an invaluable vessel. The piece broke into five pieces and the warlord raised his hand to punish the servant, but Yusai intervened by singing an improvisation … Continue reading “Gleaming Cracks of New Creation”

by the Ven. Mimsy Jones   For the past twenty-five summers, we have had the same landlord on the coast of Maine: Charles W. H. Dodge, a native son of Maine known to one and all as Charlie.   Frank and I have rented two different houses from Charlie Dodge: The Captain’s Cottage, where we … Continue reading “The Good Landlord”

by the Rev. Buddy Stallings   On Easter Day, for the first time in over a year, I had the privilege of presiding and preaching as a guest at The Church of the Nativity, a beautiful, historic church and vibrant parish in Greenwood MS. Everyone who knows anything about the Delta knows that the region … Continue reading “The Easter Parade”

by the Rev. Paul McLain   Near the end of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2009, we all got up at 5 o’clock one morning to walk the stations of the cross along the Via Dolorosa. It is the old street in Jerusalem that is remembered as the path that Jesus took to … Continue reading “An Old Man Pushing a Cart up a Hill”

by the Rev. Scott Walters   As we begin to imagine a world of less physical separation, and the liturgies of Holy Week draw near (and, yes, since I haven’t been able to find the bandwidth this week…), I thought I’d post an article I wrote several years ago in the Christian Century. They titled … Continue reading “The Liturgical Door”

by the Ven. Mimsy Jones   *cusp: a dividing line between two very different things   One cold, bright-blue day in Colorado, I boarded a chairlift with my husband Frank.  We strapped ourselves into seats that reminded me of the seats on Ferris wheels that my brother and I rode as children.  But on this … Continue reading “On the Cusp”

by the Rev. Amber Carswell   In the past two weeks, I’ve been experiencing a strange sensation. Maybe you have, too. It feels like something long-forgotten, recently resurfacing—like an old song on the radio, one you hadn’t thought of in twenty years, but to whose every word you can sing along. My friends, to put … Continue reading “Feeling Hopeful”

by the Rev. Buddy Stallings   It’s been so long since I have seen all of you; and although this present experience of “seeing” you, of being with you through these words is far from fully satisfying (for me), this process delights me. At the outset, though, I must offer a fair warning: I may … Continue reading “Remember”

by the Rev. Paul McLain   Not long after I first arrived at Calvary, the Reverend Bill Kolb sent me an email welcoming me to Calvary and Memphis, letting me know we share a mutual interest in pastoral care and inviting me to lunch at a midtown restaurant at 2:30. I emailed Bill back and … Continue reading “Brother Bill”