One of the most difficult questions I face as a priest seems like it should be one of the simplest. How do I join the church? I can give a technical answer. But the question of membership is a trickier than paperwork. Taking a page from Buddhism: true belonging is a process of vulnerability and taking refuge.
Author Archives: Mike Angell
Ash Wednesday in a Different Sort of Lent
I can’t cancel Lent. I can’t tell you we’re going to opt out. A rector simply doesn’t have that much authority. What I can say, is that I think this year it may be helpful to approach Lent differently.
Transfiguration
Today we have two strange stories about glowing faces. Moses and Jesus both shine so brightly they are said to be transfigured. Jesus and Moses don’t change into different leaders with different faces and different values. Rather these are stories about human beings who suddenly are **more** visibly, more recognizably who they are.
Jesus and Nonviolence
Why love your enemies? Because practicing love, in the end costs you less than practicing hate. Hate consumes us. Hate embitters. Spending your energy practicing hate will not help you to grow as a person. Hate shrinks us. God does not want you to be smaller. You were made not for hate, but for love.
Mike Angell 