time to shift gears yet again and become quieter still...

The poet/folk singer, Bob Franke, put it like this forty years ago on the closing cut of his 1982 recording, One Evening in Chicago: "The Spirit blows where she will... so beware of the man selling tickets!" Solid advice on so many fronts. If you are not familiar with Franke, run - do not walk - but run to a platform that allows you to listen to his brilliant tunes. Here's one of my favorites, "For Real," that captures the essence of living faithfully.

Like so many of us of a certain age, at this point in the journey it feels like time to use my energy and effort more judiciously: with care and compassion for self and others. To that end, I am making a slight shift in the style of my Sunday evening prayer live stream: "Small is Holy." For the better part of the pandemic I've been offering spoken, sung, and liturgical reflections on staying the course during these hard times. I've shared thorough biblical reflections on the various gospel texts of the common lectionary and tried to keep them grounded in our sojourn through the contagion.

What I sense this moment calls for, however, is something slightly different: a more quiet, contemplative time for spiritual nourishment that is a bit more informal albeit it still liturgically grounded in the mystical cycle of the church year. You see, for the past 25+ years while serving various congregations in Cleveland, Tucson, and Pittsfield, I shared a simple midday Eucharist each week. It began with Fr. Jim O'Donnell's Thursday night Eucharist in Cleveland, part of his humble ministry of presence guided by the spirituality of Charles de Foucault. My focus was equally influenced by Fr. Henri Nouwen's radically inclusive midday Eucharist that he began while teaching at Yale. Over the years, this simple feast became my anchor.

Now that we are shifting gears yet again during another phase of the contagion, I want to go deeper into the quiet. So rather than construct more intricate and complex Sunday ruminations as I have for the past two years, it seems as if the time has come for a more spontaneous style of contemplation. Still rooted in the gospel of Christ's radical hospitality and grace, mind you, but let intense. At least that's what seems authentic to me right now. There are a host of great political preachers out here: the Rev. Dr. William Barber being one of the best. Some of the online messages from the Riverside Church, the Middle Collegiate Church in NYC with the Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, or the worship and teaching ministries of Trinity Church Wall Street are intense, engaging, joyful and justice oriented, too. My work is something smaller. Quieter - never at odds with my colleagues who are engaged in more public encounters - just distinct. So, if you're looking for a bold public witness: check these wonderful and faithful places of worship out. 

If, however, you want to journey inward, too, you might find solace and substance with me at "Small is Holy" each Sunday @ 4 pm here: https://www.facebook.com/Be-Still-and-Know-913217865701531