The Jesuit theologian and paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin did a lot writing during the twentieth century. Some of his writings are complex to read, but what he is trying to convey is worth the complexity. One of the thoughts that comes to mind comes from our reading from Revelations. Teilhard has this sense that all of creation has been created and is moving toward its fulfillment…

Have you ever met somebody who is just really wise? Just filled with wisdom? It’s a rare thing to find, but when you see somebody who is wise, you just draw in the wisdom. Wisdom is something that is difficult to attain; it’s not something you can study for. Universities don’t offer degrees in wisdom…

Imagine we are living two thousand years from now, in the year 4009, and we’re looking back two thousand years, and we’re looking at the way we viewed illness and disease, and the way we treated it…

There’s high energy around here today. All the programs are kicking back in, all the church school programs begin today, the youth programs are beginning, the choirs are at full voice, our Clergy Forum began this morning, the Men’s Group meets this afternoon, there’s a certain energy that comes over us in this part of September as we gear up for the year together…

“Increase in us true religion.” Hear that phrase in our opening prayer, our collect? It’s an interesting phrase. What does it mean? I’d like to offer a couple of thoughts on that. One area of study that I find really interesting, and I wish I had studed more, is anthropology…

A couple of weeks ago I was preaching on Sunday and I shared a teaching on the Eucharistic Prayer that we say on Sunday, and I got so many responses to that, asking for more teaching things like that, to better understand what it is we do when we gather together like this on Sunday…

One of the exciting things about life here at St. Paul’s is the number of newcomers that we meet every Sunday. Some of you here today may be here for the first time, and we welcome you. Some people come to a parish and see it as a place where we want to engage with…

Many of you know that I’m from New York. Not that you couldn’t figure that out from my accent. I was born and raised just outside of New York City and my parents are still living there today. Growing up, I became a great fan of the New York Yankees. Many of you know that as well from past stories I’ve told…

Once I was asked by a newcomer to our parish, “Do you ever use incense?” And I said, “Yes we do; at least once a year. It’s kind of a hotdog-hamburger incense.” It’s a special kind of incense…

Have you ever had the opportunity to meet somebody through someone you already know, and you want to meet this person because they have respect for him? I recently had an experience through one of my favorite spiritual writers, Richard Rohr. You have heard me probably mention him in homilies several times. He has quoted quite a bit, someone else that I recently discovered through writing and through talks he gave, and his name is Parker Palmer…