A Season To Be Present

(October 1, 2010 reflection on seasonal changes & spiritual opportunity as we enter September & October)

As I write this we are several days into a new season. Autumn began officially on September 23rd this year. Vacations have been taken and we are beyond the “lazy days of Summer.” You can sense the change happening all around us as school gets into full swing, the nights dip into the 50s and 40s, the trees along Main Street begin to show us their brilliant red and gold hues, and we find ourselves thinking about wearing long sleeves or a jacket.

Being A Resurrection People

(A Newsletter Article from April 2010 I think applies most days, not just in Easter season)

There was a show on the Learning Channel I loved to watch called Trading Spaces. On this show friends or neighbors trade houses for the weekend. With the help of an interior designer and carpenter they would make over a room in the house. The final reveal was the best as they showed before and after pictures of the room. What I think drew me to the show was how much a room could be transformed with a couple of days work, a limited budget and some creativity. What was even more fun was the reaction of the people whose house it was when they finally got to see the room. Except for the time a designer used hay to wallpaper the walls, the residents typically responded with joy and awe. These rooms had a new mood, a new vitality breathed into them allowing the residents to see them in a new way.

Animals Are A Blessing

(A 2011 Reflection on our animal companions as we prepared for the annual Blessing of the Animals)

I’m working from home tonight, and as I write my almost 16 year old cat Monty is crawling into my lap, meowing, purring, and rubbing his face on my hands and laptop.  Mikey, a 2-year old cat I brought home from the humane society in April is curled up behind me after laying on my clipboard and chewing a bit on my pen and notes.  Monty’s sister Lilly is curled up nearby.  A typical night at the Johnson house.

A New Year To Manifest Christ

(A 2010 reflection on New Year's and manifesting hope and Christ's love to others)

Celebration, excitement, noisemaking - It’s how we bring in a new year!  I wonder… why do we celebrate the new year with such gusto worldwide, like a birthday but on a grand scale?  The optimist in me hopes it doesn’t just give folks a good excuse to have a party.  Maybe we celebrate because we are given a fresh year full of potential and mystery.  What will happen is anyone’s guess.  A new year full of possibilities, a fresh slate, a blank calendar to begin again and to fill in.  I think that’s why we make New Year’s resolutions.  It seems a natural time to both reflect back on our year and to look forward and then to take what steps we can to make a future we hope for a reality.

Sermon - A Good Friday Reflection on Gethsemane

(A 2009 Good Friday sermon for an Ecumenical service where we each started with different locations mentioned in the last 24 hours of Jesus' life)

Reading:  Mark 14:32-42

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They went to a place called Gethsemane…

Gethsemane.  The mount of olives.  The name means “oil press”.  John refers to it as a garden.  It’s night.  There are olive trees.  It’s dark and quiet.  Jesus and his closest friends and colleagues are gathered after having shared dinner together.  Can you see it?

The Work of Christmas

(A 2011 reflection on what the Church is called to in the transition from Christmas to Epiphany)

The work of Christmas? Wait… it’s January. It’s 2011! 2011? Yep, 2011. But as I write this we are still in the season of Christmas. The 10th Day of Christmas to be exact. After we have spent 12 days being Christmas people, trying to savor the gift of a Savior, trying to hold on to the joy, wonder and mystery of it all while people have been quickly moving forward, barely pausing to take a breath and just trying to “make it through the holidays” … what then? Well… it’s time for us to move on too.

Who or What Inspires You?

(A reflection on "Inspiration" from February 2011)

Another month and I’m looking for inspiration for a newsletter article again. What will you find interesting or helpful? What do you want to know more about? What connects to the Church Year or to things we are experiencing in our life and ministry as a parish? Sometimes I have writers’ block, other times I have many ideas and have to pick one, but when looking for the idea I ultimately write about, the word that comes to mind is… inspiration. When I think of the word inspiration, particularly for writing an article, I tend to think of it the way we probably hear it used most: in terms of something that motivates us, sparks our imaginations & creativity, something that spurs us on or draws something out of us. That’s what I’m looking for… that spark of an idea that captures my imagination and enthusiasm and just seems to fit… kind of an “ah ha” moment.