On November 1, we had a guest preacher at St. James'.  Luanne Panarotti, an aspirant to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, preached on the raising of Lazarus. My name is Luanne, and I am a weeper.  I come by it honestly, perhaps genetically; my mother was a weeper, too.  She was, in all other ways, a pretty feisty bird; but, she had a sentimental streak that ran deep and wide, and that caused her to well up at some of the most unusual things.  I can remember an evening long ago, sitting... Read Full Story

I write a biweekly column called "God, Life, and Everything" for theHudson Valley News. The title reflects the broad scope I want to take. Everything in life falls under the eye of God, and if we watch carefully, we can catch a glimpse of God in it all.With the first flakes of snow this Fall -- yes, I saw flakes of snow! -- it’s time for me to put the scooter up for the season. Now, when I say scooter I mean a motorscooter, like a motorcycle with a misplaced engine, undersized wheels and a s... Read Full Story

I may have made a mistake naming this sermon. When I phoned the title into our secretary, she asked me, “Is that Vane Expectations, Vein Expectations or Vain Expectations?” All sorts of images popped into my head. For V-A-N-E, I envisioned a weatherman staring at a barn’s weather vane saying, “Move! Move! I gotta report something!” For V-E-I-N, I saw a vampire in his coffin dreaming dreams of fat, luscious arteries. Unfortunately, for V-A-I-N -- a word that means to have an excessively... Read Full Story

I write a biweekly column called "God, Life, and Everything" for theHudson Valley News. The title reflects the broad scope I want to take. Everything in life falls under the eye of God, and if we watch carefully, we can catch a glimpse of God in it all.Woo hoo! The Walkway Over The Hudson opened this weekend! I had been waiting for this moment for a long time, one of those nutty folks who thought the idea of an elevated pedestrian park was brilliant and could not wait to get out onto it. ... Read Full Story

I would like you to take a pen, take out your bulletin, and draw a line through the sermon title. But remember it - that’s next week’s sermon. We do clergy bible study a week in advance, on Thursday, which is usually when I give Dyan the sermon title. Well, I came out of bible study thinking about next week’s sermon - and gave her that title. If you want to have a title for this week’s sermon, let’s call it: “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” In Mosaic law, the woman had little power. All you h... Read Full Story

I write a biweekly column called "God, Life, and Everything" for theHudson Valley News. The title reflects the broad scope I want to take. Everything in life falls under the eye of God, and if we watch carefully, we can catch a glimpse of God in it all. How can you go wrong with a name like “The Virtual Church of the Blind Chihuahua?” When I first read about this website, I rolled my eyes. You could tell from the start that it was supposed to be a cutting edge, ironic and sassy site for t... Read Full Story

I have to tell you something rather distressing. I spent an unfruitful hour recently searching for Altar Guild Humor. The internet, with all its vast resources, found nothing humorous about the Altar Guild. Instead, I found this:I’m afraid she looks like she’s saying, “Touch my vestments, and you will pay! And don’t even think of moving that chalice!” You and I know that this is unfair to OUR altar guild - people who are humble and kind and who DO share a sense of humor. But perhaps it ... Read Full Story

Are you ready for some football? Woo hoo! It’s time for the Bears! All right, uh huh, they’re number one! What? You’re not Bears fans? How can that be? The Bears are like the greatest football team ever! They won eight NFL championships, plus Superbowl XX in 1985! The Bears are Number 1! If only I had a foam finger… Okay, so maybe the Bears aren’t the greatest. Maybe this looks a little silly. When you think about it, all that screaming and shouting about number one IS silly. An... Read Full Story

Sorry, I didn't write this one out. You can read the outline and get the gist of the sermon, I think. Hope it's helpful.1. We say our goal is to know and to make Christ known 2. Peter recognized Jesus as Messiah/Christ but did not understand what it meant 3. Proverbs complains even before this of us not knowing - and hating knowing. Are we like that? 4. Maybe because James says- it’s dangerous to go around proclaiming when we often spread falsehood. Or evil in the name of Christ. 5. So wh... Read Full Story

One of the most annoying things about Jesus is that he’s always healing people. One touch, and poof, the illness is gone. One touch, and poof, a dear man can hear. Doesn’t even require a touch for some. Like the woman in today’s gospel - Jesus just says, “Go home, your daughter is healed.” What’s annoying about this is that, of course, things don’t happen like that for most of us. It gets worse when you read Matthew’s version of this story. After the woman replies that even dogs get t... Read Full Story