Mark 7:1-23

A couple of weeks ago I made a trip to the podiatrist. It was a pretty typical visit: conversation with the nurse, x-rays, and an examination from the doctor. I’d joked with the nurse about walking down the hall in my bare feet—was it ok to go without shoes? I think it’s a good hygiene day, I said.

That evening, I took off my sandals and looked at the bottom of my feet. They were filthy! How did that happen? I wondered. Was I walking outside without my shoes on? Are my floors that dirty? Then I remembered: Messy Games. The

John 6:56-69

For years, doctors have told me I should do weight-bearing exercise, or resistance training. Resistance training has a number of health benefits. It strengthens your heart and reduces risk of stroke. It strengthens ligaments and improves balance. It shifts fat to muscle and increases your mental health. But for me the salient benefit is strengthening my bones, preventing osteoporosis. So when I am in yoga class, muscles straining, holding a pose way too long, I can smile and be grateful: I’m resistance training, and it’s good for me.

But there are some forms of

“Who touched me” is about guarding your personal space, your integrity. Like the siblings who draw a line down the middle in the backseat of the car, like no man’s land in combat, these are fighting words.

In Jesus’ day, they were fighting words, too, but for slightly

Mark 4:35-41

When I was a kid, my family visited a famous Shinto shrine in Nara, Japan. I remember being captivated by the people praying in the shrine. As they drew near to pray, they clapped their hands. I was told they clapped to get the gods’ attention.

I remember being perplexed by this—I felt that my God was always listening, always there for me. Why would you need to get God’s attention?

But then I read today’s Gospel story. Jesus suggests to his disciples a trip across the Sea of Galilee, a freshwater lake that even today is known for its sudden squalls. He makes this suggestion at night, an unpredictable time on the water

Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Do you remember when you were a kid on the first day of summer? I remember waking up in my bed, thinking to myself, “What am I going to do today?” A limitless horizon stretched out before me: the entire summer. Of course there would be chores to help my mother, and weeding the garden with my dad. But at that moment all I could think about was me and my friends and hanging out at the pool. It was pure freedom.

On Memorial Day this week, the unofficial beginning of summer, I had the liberty of sitting out on my patio first thing in the morning and asking myself, what do I want to do today? I did have

John 15-16

One of the most haunting scenes to me in the Gospel of John is when Jesus stands before Pilate awaiting judgment and says that he came into the world to testify to the truth. Pilate, frustrated by Jesus’ unwillingness to exonerate himself, says cynically, What is truth?

I guess I have always been drawn to this passage because I want to know the truth: the truth about the way the world works; the truth about myself and other people; the truth about God. I long for knowledge and wisdom that lasts.

In the Gospel today, Jesus gives his disciples Truth—he himself is the truth. Jesus famously said, I

Waiting.
That’s one of the operative words in today’s scriptures. By the way, if you felt like you were

Acts 10:44-48

The musical “Hairspray” ends with a dance tune called “You Can’t Stop the Beat.” It’s got this driving rhythm, and you can’t sit still when you hear it. The musical is set amid the racial discrimination of the early 1960s, as seen through the eyes of high schoolers. Tracy Turnblad wants to audition for the local TV dance competition but big girls don’t fit the mold. She then finds out that Black kids aren’t welcome either. She and her friends set out to integrate the dance competition and make room for girls and women of all body types to be beautiful. The song “You Can’t Stop the Beat” sums up the irrepressible motion of change and that everyone is welcome to join the dance.

That song was in my head this