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“Gathering and Feasting” When I was growing up, in our family, there were two holidays that were holy – no holy isn’t a strong enough word! They were transcendent, untouchable. The first would be Christmas Eve, or Wigilia or Veligia, depending on what part of Poland your family was from. Very much like the Italian feast of seven fishes – meatless, traditional and family oriented. The second most untouchable day would be Thanksgiving. And when I say untouchable, I mean that it

“And We Give Thanks” It’s 4am Sunday morning, and I’m struggling to finish my sermon that I’ll be delivering in a few hours. The house is dark and quiet, and it seems my brain is also dark and quiet! Suddenly I hear the pitter-pat of the dog’s feet coming through the kitchen and into the TV room, where I’m working. Harley sticks his head around the corner, sees me, his ears go down, and his tail starts to wag uncontrollably. He comes over and sits next to me, looking for a fe

“Reaching Deep Into Your Heart” Yesterday morning, as I was waiting for my cup of coffee to be ready, I looked up at the ceiling and saw this tiny spec of a spider. Before you know it, this itty bitty spider was sliding down it’s silk rope right in front of me. Down, down, down, until it reached the floor. It was no bigger than a pinhead, and that little spider was trying to decide what its next step would be. Under normal circumstances, I would have slid my foot over and squ

“The Lion and the Lamb” Woody Allen once quipped “The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won’t get much sleep!” That vision of the lion and the lamb laying together has been with me all week as we celebrate our pets today. You know the one – where they’re both laying in a beautiful green field, surrounded by golden flowers, blue sky. Very “The Lion King-esk” looking. And I have found myself wondering – which one am I? The lion or the lamb? Which one are y

As many of you know, Tom Mark and I – and more recently Tom and I, have been going to Ferry Beach the first full week of August for many years. The week’s theme is “Circles of Life” and it’s so thrilling to see the same folks every year, some greyer, older, kids growing, and reconnect on a truly special level. Those of you who have experienced Star Island know meaningful these weeks are. The past 3 years, I have been the Minister of the Week for our week, and each year I swea