Trapped by Hope
Advent 1c 2024; 1 Dec. Luke 21:25-36; Jack Hardaway TRAPPED BY HOPE Hope has a way of hunting us down. Luring us away. Then suddenly like a trap we are captured. God’s prisoner. We begin the Christian year today with a vision of the world falling apart and being remade. For people of faith, […]
Showing Up
Christ the King B 2024 21 Nov. John 18:33-37 Jack Hardaway SHOWING UP It turns out we were wrong. In a big way. To quote Gomer Pyle, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” We thought truth had something to do with saying things a certain way, using words to convey facts, the absence of deception. Telling it […]
In Walk These Two Widows
Proper 27b 2024; 10 Nov. I Kings 17:8-16; Mark 12:38-44 Jack Hardaway IN WALK THESE TWO WIDOWS Will there be enough? Isn’t that the question and the fear most of the time? Will there be enough? It is a long list of things being not enough, money, time, freedom, love, life, safety, food, room, […]
The Walking Living
All Saints’ Sunday B 2024 John 11:32-44; Jack Hardaway THE WALKING LIVING So we have two choices. To walk around being dead, or to walk around being alive. Every now and then I watch a zombie movie, or television show, pop culture has an ongoing fascination with the walking dead. The shows are silly […]
Cry Out Be Heard
Proper 25b 2024; 27 Oct. Mark 10:46-52; Jack Hardaway CRY OUT BE HEARD Cry out. Be heard. That is the Gospel. The good news. Two brief turns of phrase. Call. Response. Pulling Joseph out of the pit, betrayed by his brothers. The Lord hearing the cries of his people Israel in bondage in Egypt. […]
THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE
Proper 22b 2024; 6 October 2024 Mark 10:2-26; Jack Hardaway THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE St. Francis is like the eye of a hurricane. A still and quiet space in the storm. Wherever he went people were inspired to live more simply and generously, to follow Jesus more deliberately, rebuilding their lives, the church, […]
Unconstrained Mercy
Proper 18b 2024; 8 Sept. Pro. 22:1-2,8-9,22-23; Ps. 125, Jas. 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37 Jack Hardaway UNCONSTRAINED MERCY Mercy is an adventure. Or is it a landslide, an avalanche, a stampede? A wave that rises up and carries us off our intended course? Once we take that entrance ramp onto the interstate, there is no […]
Shameless Delight
Proper 17b 2024; 1 Sept Song of Songs 2:8-13; Ps. 45:1-2, 7-10 James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Jack Hardaway SHAMELESS DELIGHT I once got a post card in the mail. It was in my handwriting, written by me, and addressed to me. The note simply said, “Enjoy doing the dishes.” The thing about […]
ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE
Proper 12b 2024; 28 July 2 Sam. 11:1-15; Ps. 14, Eph. 3:14-21; John 6:1-21 Sometimes the light switch just gets turned off. We flip the switch. The light goes out. Who we were before is over. That young man who shot our former president, Mr. Trump, injuring and killing those around him. It’s like the […]
In the Air
The wind.It changes.Sometimes we can feel change coming, the wind changes, a fresh breeze, a new scent in the air. Wait for it.The wind.In silence wait for the change, a new season, a new heart, a new direction, a new purpose. Sometimes it feels like nothing ever changes. The air grows thick and stagnant.It is […]
Being Born
Jack Hardaway ] Being born is a pretty traumatic experience. So I hear. I don’t remember it myself. Though I do remember my three children seemed to find it pretty upsetting. There was this silly movie years ago, Look who’s Talking, where the babies talked, Bruce Willis was the voice over for the main character. […]
For All the People
Jack Hardaway } I’m going to get this wrong. Good news of great joy to all the people. How do I do that? Good news for everyone. What are the words? How do I say it the right way? Words, news, tidings that are joyful for everyone, all the time. How do you even do […]
Absence
Today is probably the only truly liturgically dysfunctional Sunday of the year. Is it pink, or blue, or purple? Is it Mary’s Sunday? Is it Gaudete Sunday? Is it Mothering Sunday? Is it Stir Up Sunday? The third Sunday of Advent. So many customs from different times and places have accumulated and accrued on this […]
The Appearing
Jack Hardaway ] The small courier plane was flying low, too low, dipping and wavering back and forth over the tree tops, its engine sputtering and popping. It flew under some tall power lines, but didn’t quite make it. The tail snagged on the line, jerking the plane to a stop, and the plane plopped […]
Hope Takes Practice
Jack Hardaway ] “Hope is not a plan.” I hear that a lot. It’s an old and popular quote. I usually respond that hope is a theological virtue. Which always gets me a funny look. A theological virtue, that is a funny turn of phrase, it deserves a funny look. It is an ancient idea […]
Endings
Jack Hardaway ] And they lived happily ever after. And he lived till he was old and full of days. And they rode off into the Sunset. Could this be the end? Tune in next time to find out, or maybe not! Amen. Amen. Here we are at the end. Endings. This week is that. […]
Digging Holes
Jack Hardaway ] I’m good at digging holes. Lots of practice. I’ve worn out shovels, the tip of the blade develops a sort of U-turn. I’ve snapped off Lord knows how many shovel handles. I used to bury things as a child. Finding excuses to dig, I’d bury secret treasures, broken toys, and secret potions […]
Waking Up
Jack Hardaway ] You ever have trouble sleeping? In the night, when we should be asleep, what is it that keeps us awake? What runs through our minds? What are the worries and preoccupations, all those details that make us burn the midnight oil? Until we fall asleep, our minds worn ragged. My grandmother used […]
The Righteous Ones
Jack Hardaway ] The Lord is glorious in his saints. And the lives of the saints are the stories that hold the world together. God’s glory shines through people, and that glory is life itself. There are ancient legends. Maybe even myths. About the righteous ones, a group of people, sometimes there are 36, sometimes […]
Going To School
Jack Hardaway ] When love is easy it is so easy. When love is hard it is so hard. It is the stuff of songs, and poetry, and story, and dance, and art. It is the hard wood of the cross, and the soft flesh Jesus, nailed together, bleeding and splintered. We are students of […]
Imago
Jack Hardaway ] We live in a world soaking and sopping with images. Dripping, swirling, awash in images. We can’t see the water for the flood. Yet we live a faith where the image reveals God. We are over stuffed yet starving due to becoming resistant to the image, an acquired immunity due to over […]
Word
Word. Word up. What’s the word? Can I have a word please? Get a word in edgewise. Say the word. Give the word. Speak the word. You have my word. Preach the word. The word of the Lord. The Ten words. The Decalogue. The Word became flesh. God is speaking the word that is recreating, […]
Believing What We Live
Jack Hardaway } How we live tells us what we really believe. God gives water to the thirsty. God is water to the thirsty. That is the Exodus lesson. Jesus says whoever gives water to the least of these gives water to him. It becomes an act of worship and devotion, a sacrament. What does […]
Manna
Jack Hardaway ] Losing a job. Sometimes, it can be like losing part of ourselves. We forget who we are, or who we used to be. It can leave us wondering who we are. Do we have value? It can break the heart. It can leave us empty. And that wilderness- of searching for a […]