Author Archives: revdrejt1832

“Making the world a little more tiltable”

The journey through Lent is not necessarily a solo endeavor. Although we may choose to walk alone, we do so in the company of so many saints, dead and alive. Lent moves us to Easter and so our journey is toward the celebration of the transformative power of God’s love and grace. This love andContinue reading ““Making the world a little more tiltable””

Letting Go!

Throughout his life, Norman MacCaig (1910-1996) never moved far from Edinburgh, Scotland. He grew up in Edinburgh, studied there, taught Primary/Elementary school there, and then taught at Edinburgh University. When not in Edinburgh, he loved being in the far north of Scotland, in Sutherland in particular. Enjoy his poem. Small boy He picked up aContinue reading “Letting Go!”

Statistics

It has been a year of daily statistics. Every major news bulletin has begun with numbers, cases, positivity rates, hospital beds, ventilators, and sadly deaths. At last these daily statistics also include vaccine distribution and shots received. One amazing story of good fortune last week involved public health workers transporting vaccine but they got stuckContinue reading “Statistics”

It’s not about the View!

I started the conversation by asking, “Where did you meet?” The soon to be married couple looked at each other and answered in unison “Mt. Everest.”I quickly responded “I guess one was on the way up and one was on the way down.” Smiling they responded in unison, “How did you guess?” I am notContinue reading “It’s not about the View!”

“For this, for everything, we are out of tune;”

In Geraldine Brooks’ novel Year of Wonders we are placed in a small village in the English Peak District in the year 1666 as the Great Plague sweeps through England causing untold sorrow and grief. The story begins with the main character, Anna, describing her village “We live all aslant here, on this steep flankContinue reading ““For this, for everything, we are out of tune;””

“To see ourselves as other see us!”

Scotland’s National Bard, Robert Burns, was born on January 25th 1759 and each year his birth is celebrated in a feast of food and words known as Burns Night or Burns Supper on or close to January 25th. Of his many words I take just a few today from his poem To a Louse andContinue reading ““To see ourselves as other see us!””

“Rough-edged circumstances”

As we continue in the midst of Covid-19 I recall a wonderful line from the novel Secrets of a Charmed Life, most of which is set in London during World War II. In the novel, the author Susan Meissner describes two of the main characters as follows “They were just two women trying to chiselContinue reading ““Rough-edged circumstances””

A Moment to Recalibrate

Epiphany was celebrated on January 6th. On that date the church recalls the arrival of the “magi” or “wise men” at the place of Jesus birth. We are told they arrived by following a star! We are not quite at the end of January and many of us have packed away those “wise men” forContinue reading “A Moment to Recalibrate”

Where you stand is Holy Ground

A few years ago while visiting Cornwall I had the opportunity to spend some time in Truro Cathedral. On display was a marvelous collection of art work. The piece above shows in remarkable color an interpretation of the story from the Old Testament book of Exodus of the encounter between God and Moses. This “burningContinue reading “Where you stand is Holy Ground”