I come to this week with a heavy heart. My lifelong friend Michelle died two weeks ago, unexpectedly and without warning. In the Great Litany (1549), Thomas Cranmer prays that we might be saved from dying "suddenly and unprepared." Michelle was an international judo champion, a strong and independent soul. I suspect that forensic tests will show that she experienced significant...
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Unlike most of the world, God does not throw away old people. Nor does God assign women to lesser or unimportant roles. A robust example of being valued--as a woman and an old person--is found in Luke 1. Here, the classic story about Elizabeth, the relative to whom Mary ran when she was newly pregnant with Jesus, is brims over with life and...
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For the better part of forty years, Mary didn’t do anything for me. And that sounds like something a loser would say: “Hey, Mary didn’t do anything for me…” Except, of course, she did something that no one has ever done; something that no one else will ever do. She gave birth to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, the Redeemer. Surely...
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This Saturday, on August 15th, Christians around the world will celebrate the life and witness of Mary. What do we know about her? Why does she matter? She is Jesus’ mother. Everything we know about her springs from that relationship. Well known are her life events: her encounter with the angel Gabriel; the haste with which she fled to see Elizabeth; the birth of Jesus...
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I’m coming out of the closet theologically. On this day, when The Episcopal Church, and several other denominations, celebrate the Annunciation — that event when the angel Gabriel visits Mary with news of God’s astounding plan — I’ll throw my cards down. I’m taking the virgin birth on face value. I come at this issue with the best of liberal credentials....
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