Featured « Heatherhope Farm

Pentecost 7: Covid-19 and the Groans of Creation

The second reading for the 7th Sunday of Pentecost is Romans 8:12-25

It contains these lines:

15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children […]

Pentecost 6--A New Age People

The Second Reading for this coming Sunday is Romans 8:1-11, which begins with this:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

The late New Testament scholar, Joseph Fitzmyer, […]

Celebrating an Honorable and Vital Nation

As I transitioned from high school to college I had a burning desire to enter into politics. My patriotism burned hot.

On the wall of my bedroom were hung two replicas of paintings that I had paid a good portion of my meager income as a bag boy to have framed: John Trumbull’s famous depiction of […]

Bilbo The Brave

Son, Jeremiah, and daughter-in-law, Caroline, have a crossbreed named Luna at their new home in Oakland, California. She barks a bit. Mostly at the many squirrels who climb the branches of the redwood trees in their back yard.

I told Jeremiah that since Luna was part Old English sheepdog, she had bravery and protectiveness built into […]

Pentecost 5 Racist? Who me?

The second reading for the Fifth Sunday of Pentecost is Romans 7.15-25a

When I hear people of color today cry out against systemic racism, I want to reply, “I’m not racist.” I want to object that this country has come so far from the days of slavery and the sins of the Confederacy, that surely we […]

Pentecost 4: The Slavery That Frees

Romans 6:12-23

This Sunday is a call to the slavery that frees us for life.

Some people are all about “freedom.” But they haven’t the foggiest idea what that means. In this pandemic they have become slaves to a political lie that wearing a face mask is an insult to our President—a man who has consistently minimized […]

Pentecost 3: Fear, Love, and Our New Family

Matthew 10:24-39

We have several pandemics going on. The most threatening is the pandemic of polarization. The Devil’s favorite weapon is polarization, or should we say scattering. Strike the shepherd and scatter the flock.

The forces of polarization peddle an alternate reality. They want to shake things up—sow confusion—divide and conquer. And the way they do this […]

Pentecost 2: Sheep into the Midst of Wolves

Gospel for Proper 6 (Pentecost 2) Series A

Matthew 9:35–10:8 (10:9–23)

This is the year of Matthew in the Revised Common Lectionary. But this is the Sunday we get our first real introduction to what it means to be Christ-followers—what it means to be a genuine part of the church.

And it isn’t pretty! And it is not […]

K9 Playtime Therapy

Zac protects the tennis ball as Hector and Betty urge him to give it up so that the game can go on. Who takes care of whom during the pandemic? These Border Collies provide much needed inoculation against boredom and depression. Photo by John

Trinity Sunday: Put Things (Back) in Order

Things Fall Apart is the title of the powerful 1958 book by the late Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It tells of the tragic life of a young man, trying to find respect for himself and his family by overcoming what he considers the failed and ignominious legacy of his father. It also tells of the arrival […]

Search Heatherhope

Recent Posts

Archives