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. . . .

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. . . .

Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke, 2:10-11.

When I was a little girl, I loved the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. From one of these stories, I learned my first bedtime prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord, my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Well. That’ll keep a kid up all night.

. . . blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. Luke 1:45.

One of the first things I learned about pastoral care was to be very, very careful about making promises. The few times I did, it seemed like everything in my life conspired to make me break them. Better to be vague-I’ll see you next time-than to promise someone who’s lonely, or sick, or depressed that you’ll be back tomorrow, then stand them up because the water heater blew up or the car won’t start. And for the dying woman, even the off-hand “see you soon” has the weight of a sworn oath. Do you really want her to linger in suffering to fulfill your expectations of a “next time”?

Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Luke 3:8.

I finally figured out why I like John the Baptist. You don’t have to wonder where you stand. He doesn’t call a spade, a spade. He calls it a damn shovel. As abrasive and unpleasant as John can be, he’s nothing if not direct. Yet, all that honesty can be exhausting. Here we are, halfway through Advent, still being chastised by a crazy guy in animal skins. Could we get to the Good News already?

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Jeremiah 33:14

for all our high-brow efforts to complicate Christianity and its core beliefs and practices, it all comes down to something very simple — do we trust God?

One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land. 2 Samuel, ch.23

We come this week to Christ the King Sunday — the transition point between the long, ‘ordinary’ season of Pentecost and the short, extraordinary season of Advent, during which we prepare to receive this ‘Christ the King’ character. We’re reminded again on this same Sunday each year that the King we’re preparing to receive is no small beans, no slouch — not simply a personal cheerleader or confidant — but is the hope of the world, the light in the darkness, the judge of the strong and defender of the weak — he is the King of all creation who lays claim to the life of every living thing, calling each to the purpose for which it was created — in good order and perfect peace.

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. Mark, ch.9

The fact that this little snippet comes just after Jesus tells his disciples to get over the fact that they aren’t the only ones doing good things in His name, suggests that perhaps what we have here is a case of ‘clinginess.’ yes, the disciples are clinging — to control, to being insiders, to being special — and Jesus tells them this clinging is bad, both for others and for themselves.

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. Mark 8:34-5

This tasty little nugget comes to us right after Peter confesses Jesus as ‘the Messiah,’ and it suggests to us that Jesus has big plans for those who share in Peter’s confession of faith.

He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Mark, ch.7

Let’s be completely honest with ourselves on this one — Jesus and his gospel would have died a quiet death if not for the courage of this Gentile woman who demands more of Jesus than he was initially prepared to offer.

‘Do not fear, but believe!’ Mark 5:36b

Nothing holds us in the throes of death so thoroughly as fear. Look within and around you and see if it isn’t true.