Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Pentecost Prayer
Jesus, though you were of one age, you spoke to the ages.
Jesus, though you lived long ago, you spoke words that continue to move, motivate, mature, and transfigured us.
Jesus, though you were of Palestinian color and culture, you spoke to all cultures and colors.
We thank you for your timeliness and timelessness. May the church that bears your name continue to reach out with love and compassion toward other members of the human family, no matter what age, culture, color, or context.
–Leonard Sweet
A Book of Uncommon Prayer
A Book of Uncommon Prayer
100 Celebrations of the Miracle & Muddle of the Ordinary
by Brian Doyle
A celebration is exactly what this book is. What a delight to be introduced to Brian Doyle by means of these one hundred quintessentially quirky, but genuinely beautiful, short prayers. The joke in the book’s title suggests that A Book of Uncommon Prayer is funny, and it often is, sometimes hilariously so. And yet these micro-meditations are truly prayers and many include expressions of pain and confusion, or supplication, or thanks which most people will identify with if they are awake and paying attention to life at all. read more…
Say Thank You
Say Thank You
We’ve been playing with Victor Wooten’s book “The Music Lesson” where he invites us to a bigger understanding of what makes music. Today I’m going to jump to the end of the list. His final lesson is a postscript, really, but it’s an essential element. It is the affirmation that music is more than an external “thing”, it is a relationship:
“Say Thank You. In all your musical years, have you ever, truthfully, said “thank you” to your instrument?” read more…
Madrona Disciples Redux
What’s Your Soundtrack?
Mother Church
In Augustine’s Confessions (IV, 12, 19), he connects Mary, mother of Jesus and the church by quoting Isaiah 46:8 where the prophet says “Return to the heart.” Here is the quote: “Christ, our life, came down to us and delivered us from death, killing death itself with the fullness of…
Born of the Wounded Side
“Eve looks forward to Mary, and her very name ‘Mother of all the living’ (Gen.3:20) is a mysterious presage of the future, for Life itself was born of Mary, whence she became more fully ‘the Mother of all the living’ . . . Nor can we see the passage ‘I…
Cloak of Power
Cloak of Power Story Lectionary 2 Kings –The Story of Elijah and the Cloak of Power Psalm 5 (The cloak of protection spread over the righteous) Psalm 91 (The Lord covers you with protection) Psalm 109 (May the accusers wear a cloak of shame and disgrace) Psalm 104 (The…
What’s In A Name?
What’s In A Name? Lectionary: Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47 Ephesians 1:15-23 Luke 24:44-53 Sermon (special selection based on John 17:6-19) The Day of Ascension 17 May 2015 There is a simple, amoeba-ish creature that lives by taking advantage of moist, marginal, unimpressive environments (think squishy, icky places like those…
The Power of Metaphor –5-17-15
When you are reading scripture, try to envision it as a “motion picture.” When you can see the scriptures in living color and hear Jesus’ words in surround sound, you will be able to feel the power of the Story. The scriptures must not be treated as “dead wood” but…