Join us each Tuesday of Lent for soup and study in the sacristy. . . .

So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” Luke 13:7-9.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. Isaiah 55:8.

Today, as soon as I finish writing to you, I must face that dreaded dinosaur: the annual parochial report. Yes, I realize that I’m late. It was due yesterday. Ignoring the advice of a colleague to turn the thing in on April Fool’s Day—thus exercising the prophetic voice of my diaconal call—I am committed to getting it off my desk this week. . . .

” . . . And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Luke 13:35b.

Every town has its prophets. In Santa Rosa, California—the town where I was born—our prophet was named Pepper.

As a child, I didn’t fully appreciate Pepper’s occupation, but looking back I’ve pieced together the innuendos. . . .

As we begin the season of Lent, it seems appropriate to revisit one of Fr. Paul’s reflections on the season and the promise it holds for us:

We hear from Jesus in the Ash Wednesday liturgy: “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This comes to us during Lent both as caring and compassionate warning and advice—be careful which treasures you set your heart upon. . . .

. . . Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. . . . Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —not knowing what he said. Luke 9:28b-29, 33.

When my mother was dying, one of my deepest fears was that I would forget her face. We sorted photographs for the memorial service, and I realized I had already forgotten. I couldn’t remember what she looked like before the cancer, before the chemo broken her body under its toxic weight. It had been so long since she had really been herself. . . .

remember you are dust . . .

The church will also be open for prayer with interactive prayer stations on February 17, Ash Wednesday, from 8am to noon.

Our services for the day are:
Ash Wed. service w/ ashes @ noon evening prayer @ 5pm
HT Dinner Table ashing @ 6pm

Welcome our bishop, the Rt. Rev. James E. Waggoner, Jr. on Sunday, Feb. 7 @ 10 am. Bishop Waggoner will preach and preside at Holy Trinity and will install Kris Christensen as missioner.

(There will be no 7 pm service on Feb. 7 due to the Superbowl. Instead, we invite you to gather with friends in celebration or protest of this American high holy day.)

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. Luke 5:10b-11.

Buckle up, my friends. We’re gonna talk about the e-word.

Edification? Nope. Enlightenment? Bzzzzz! Episcopalian?! Sorry. But thanks for playing. . . .

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. Luke 4:28

What is your image of God? . . .

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:17b – 19.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 1 Corinthians 12:14-15

Every so often, someone gives you just the pastoral response you need. Mine came from a visiting priest. As we were vesting in the Holy Trinity sacristy, he asked me about my then-tentative call to the diaconate. I said, I wasn’t really sure I could be a good-enough deacon. He asked me when I was going to drop the false humility and get on with it. . . .

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” . . . When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” John 2: 4-7, 9-10.

Mary as stage mother. Not exactly the scenario we’re expecting for Jesus’ first semi-public miracle. Semi-public, because the only ones who really know what’s going on are the servants. The steward is clueless, the bridegroom plays along, and the party guests–we presume–just go on partying. Hardly a magical first-cotillion moment for the Savior of all humankind. . . .

The earthquake, rather than evidence of the random and senseless nature of human existence, provides for Robertson evidence of God’s existence and ongoing, partisan involvement in human history. Robertson’s theology provides comfort, too, in its categorization of the victims of this tragedy as deserving of their fate, insulating Robertson from the agony of identifying too closely with these wounded, mourning, homeless, and hungry fellow humans.

Classical music aficionados are invited to experience a unique and intimate performance in one of Spokane’s historic neighborhood churches. Blending the classical guitar of David Isaacs with vocal work of soprano Chelsea Camille, Chanson du Soir will grace the century-old sanctuary of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Tuesday, January 19. Net proceeds from the concert will go to Our Place Ministries to help low-income people in West Central.

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened . . . Luke 3:21.

Until she was 19 months old, Helen Keller was like any child. She could see and hear. She learned to speak: words like tea and water. Then an illness left her blind and deaf, and she began to forget. One by one, the words slipped away into the dark silence that engulfed her . . .

. . . and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen as its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. Matthew 2:9b, 10.

This is my last week of alleged vacation before I start “for real” at Holy Trinity. So, even if it meant missing my daily routine in the YMCA therapy pool, I was determined to sleep in this morning. Naturally, I woke up at 4:50 a.m. . . .