Solitude is becoming ever more precious in our overly-wired world. Lent is the perfect opportunity to give yourself the gift of time alone.

Progressive Christians are constantly challenged to claim the title of Christian — in the sense of being a follower of Jesus’ teachings — while letting go of most of the dogma that has been developed over the centuries by the human institution that is church.

“Less is more.” A carefully crafted poem leaves so much to the reader’s imagination, which makes it the perfect vehicle for spiritual insights.

We are all connected, not only across nations and cultures and religions, but across time. Even as we head into the future, we carry with us our ties to the past.

We search and strive and struggle all our lives, and in the end it always comes back to love. Boundless love.

“We take the Bible seriously, we just don’t take it literally.”

There is more than one kind of intelligence. The learning that we pursue with our intellect is one kind, but the wisdom we come to understand through our hearts is another.

Metanoia… change your thinking… see differently… Transforming visions can do that for us.

“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.”

What must the months before the first Christmas have been like for the young Mary?

Humans are story-tellers. It’s how we remember important things.

Advent prayers remind us what a difficult time and place Jesus was born into. And yet… has there ever been a time when it was not difficult to be born with such gifts?

December brings us Advent, the winter solstice, and if we happen to live in the southern hemisphere, high summer. Rituals abound.

Giving thanks, expressing gratitude … it’s a foundational part of a happy life.

How we approach prayer says everything about who or what or if we think God is.

How do you experience the presence of God? Is it being out in nature, or hearing/singing/playing music, or finding selflessness in meditation… it’s a universal experience that is also intensely individual.

Our separateness is an illusion. We are inextricably connected to the web of all that is. Every action we take, even the energy of every thought, becomes part of that web of connection.

“What does communion signify to you?” If you ask that question in a safe-to-tell-my-truth group, it’s often surprising what variety comes forth.

Just as progressive Christians have found new symbolism for the bread and wine of communion, so too we look for new words with which to express the ancient ritual of baptism.

Gathering for worship is rather like a chance to recharge your batteries.

How many people do you suppose have had their eyes and hearts opened to progressive Christianity because of John Shelby Spong?

Where do you feel welcome? Where do you feel like you have “come home”?

Poetry and worship seem made for each other. There we are, gathered to share our understanding of a power-that-is-beyond-understanding, and we are convinced that more words will make it clearer.

It can be a challenge to compose a funeral or memorial service when you know the gathered group will have a range of religious persuasions.

Insight comes to each of us in its own time, when and as we are ready to absorb it. With each fresh “Aha!” we realize that this path of discovery we are on is very old, with well-worn footsteps that now bear our imprint as well.

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,


The ritual of communion can have many different symbolic interpretations in its role of remembrance of the life and teachings of Jesus. The same is true of the music we sing to accompany the ritual.

Baptisms, naming ceremonies, rituals of thanksgiving for new life … all these attest to our desire to mark in some way our recognition of a new member of God’s family.

The din of our modern world works against staying calm and centered. Some days the best thing you can do for your state of mind is turn off your smartphone.

Pulled forward by hope, often pushed from behind by desperation, no immigrant leaves his or her home country without powerful emotions in play.

Summer… memories of long, lazy days and the delicious feeling of having time for whatever comes along.

To celebrate the feast day of Mary Magdalene is to celebrate an archetypical strong female leader. Preacher, teacher, the one disciple who really understood Jesus’ message… she was truly “apostle to the apostles.”

Long summer days and warm weather help us slow down, take time, find some moments to “do nothing,” allow our creativity to emerge, and generally give ourselves permission to relax.

The old adage to “count your blessings” is still good advice.

Gratitude is life-giving. It breaks down the walls that isolate us from each other and from our world.

Ecstatic sexual energy is celebrated as a pathway to transcendence in many religious traditions. Not usually, however, in Christianity!