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<title>Grace Episcopal Mpls RSS Feed</title><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/index.html</link><description>Blog entries from Grace Episcopal Church of Minneapolis</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><language>en</language><dc:date>2026-05-12T13:12:00-05:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 13:19:43 -0500</lastBuildDate><item><title>What Do We Do When the World is Burning</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-05-12T13:12:00-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/haiti-2026.php#unique-entry-id-72</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/haiti-2026.php#unique-entry-id-72</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[On Sunday, the Rev. Matthew Johnson preached about his experience of traveling to Bigonet, Haiti, where our congregation has a partnership. 

...I thoroughly recommend Choctaw Native Bishop Steven Charleston&rsquo;s book, &ldquo;We Survived the End of the World, lessons from Native America on apocalypse and hope.&rdquo;  

...Steven Charleston, a member of the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma, was the Episcopal Bishop of Alaska, and dean of the Episcopal Divinity School. has has authored many books.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>May Day</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-04-30T07:51:27-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/may-day.php#unique-entry-id-70</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/may-day.php#unique-entry-id-70</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[[ In a world that seems increasingly chaotic and broken, many of us feel helpless and afraid. ...  To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena. 

...It&rsquo;s Workers Over Billionaires - On May 1, 2026, workers, students, and families rally, march, and take action across the country to demand a nation that puts workers over billionaires, with many refusing business as usual through No School. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Putting Values into Action</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-03-31T11:02:32-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/values-action.php#unique-entry-id-69</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/values-action.php#unique-entry-id-69</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena. 

...Many Minnesotans of faith attended the No Kings 3 rally at the state capitol this past Saturday as an opportunity to put their values into action. 

...The next day, on Palm Sunday, many Christians returned to the capitol to take a stand against the avarice, inhumanity, and brutality of the current administration thus recalling Jesus humbly entering Jerusalem on the original Palm Sunday as a response to the corruption of the Roman Empire. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Marching in the Name of the Passover&#x2c; Easter God</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-03-31T10:17:22-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/palm-sunday-2026.php#unique-entry-id-68</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/palm-sunday-2026.php#unique-entry-id-68</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[On Sunday, I preached about the first Palm Sunday, and the ways the defiant story of the Passover made Jesus' procession into occupied Jerusalem a dangerous, provocative event.   Matthew's Gospel says that "the whole city was in turmoil" as Jesus entered, and then tossed those exploiting the people out of the Temple, and healed the sick. 

...As voices around us claim that Jesus is a figure of judgment who will ride in on a white battle-horse with an army of avenging angels, we proclaim a Gospel that is actually Good News.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Hope and Despair&#x2c; Together</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-03-25T13:59:06-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/hope-despair.php#unique-entry-id-67</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/hope-despair.php#unique-entry-id-67</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Lydia said, &ldquo;We are sent forth in the name of Christ, back out into the world of mundane to-do lists, blatant fascism, and joyful birthday parties.&rdquo;


Holding all of it&mdash;the daily details, the heartbreak and fear, and the joy&mdash;is the human condition.   And God joins us in it: "Our God cannot help but feel his way through, even in the most divine moments. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Joining God&#x27;s Work of Healing</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-03-21T08:39:06-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/neighborhood-healing.php#unique-entry-id-65</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/neighborhood-healing.php#unique-entry-id-65</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When Jesus arrives and gives sight to a man who had been blind his whole life, instead of joining the man in celebration, they react with suspicion and throw him out.   The way they respond to this man, and the miracle he receives, is a glimpse into what fear does at the societal scale.


...The Twin Cities had to decide: Would we sacrifice the immigrant neighbors among us in order to avoid a military occupation? 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Seeing Through the Filter</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-03-13T10:27:58-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/seeing-through.php#unique-entry-id-64</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/seeing-through.php#unique-entry-id-64</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In this Sunday&rsquo;s dense and complex gospel reading, Jesus is helping us to understand that true, healing vision is only found when we let go of faith in ourselves, and practice clinging entirely to God&rsquo;s power. 


...Our spiritual work in every moment is to ask Jesus to touch the scales of hard-hearted selfishness, bitterness, and fear that ever blind us, and put on the lens of love, and the filter of justice.   Through daily prayer, sharing life with each other, drinking deeply from the scriptures, and encountering Jesus in sacrament, God&rsquo;s vision for a world healed by love comes into sharper focus, and we are set free to extend that healing in every moment of our living, in a world imprisoned by its destructive blindness. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Hot&#x2c; Parched Wilderness</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-03-11T15:27:39-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/wilderness.php#unique-entry-id-63</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/wilderness.php#unique-entry-id-63</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The most powerful in our nation and the world are recklessly enforcing a narrow vision at home, and now in the already embattled Middle East, as bombs wreak death and destruction through the region with little sense of how or when it will all end, and the potential for widening violence alarmingly high. 


...The only way we can get out of the heat and find water is to keep going, seeking with our whole being the living water that God alone can offer.   And then, fortified by that water, we are to pedal through the world with the same elated energy as my daughter and I did on our root beer fueled return trip through Iowa&rsquo;s scorching cornfields. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Learning to Float</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-03-07T13:16:46-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/floating.php#unique-entry-id-62</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/floating.php#unique-entry-id-62</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In Sunday's sermon, I asked you what it was like as you were learning to float.


...The days ahead, in this extraordinarily volatile political time, will give us more and more opportunities to trust God as we practice Jesus' way of love.   You can listen to the sermon here. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Thinking About Voting</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-02-25T09:00:07-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/thinking-voting.php#unique-entry-id-61</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/thinking-voting.php#unique-entry-id-61</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[[In a world that seems increasingly chaotic and broken, many of us feel helpless and afraid. ...  To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena.   How might you find inspiration and hope in the small steps others are taking?]
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What Will Recovery Look Like?</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-02-25T08:47:56-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/recovery-healing.php#unique-entry-id-60</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/recovery-healing.php#unique-entry-id-60</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The news media may have moved on, but our neighbors and friends who felt targeted before would be right to wonder if they are yet safe to go to work, to the grocery store, to doctor's appointments. 

...As we navigate the extraordinary challenges of these days in Minnesota and across the country, the Welcoming Prayer can be a powerful tool to help us ground ourselves in God&rsquo;s loving embrace so that we can respond, rather than react, to the instability and uncertainty around us.


Once you&rsquo;ve learned the practice, it can be a tool to connect with your body, your soul, and your faith anywhere you go, in any moment, no matter what you&rsquo;re feeling. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A Most Uncomfortable Prayer</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-02-17T15:48:13-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/welcome-return.php#unique-entry-id-59</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/welcome-return.php#unique-entry-id-59</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[As the Rev. Anna Broadbent-Evelyn said in her homily yesterday: sometimes things get in the way of our relationship with God, our source, and we need to shuv, repent, return to God. 


The Welcoming Prayer grows out of the deep roots of the Christian contemplative tradition, inviting us to become more aware of the Holy Spirit's work in us in the midst of fear, loneliness, and loss of control. 

...It isn't comfortable; it is a way to have an honest connection with God in the midst of the incredible instability of life in these times in this place. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Precinct Caucus Night</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-02-10T14:28:01-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/precinct-caucuses.php#unique-entry-id-58</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/precinct-caucuses.php#unique-entry-id-58</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena. 

...Although not the first time for me it&rsquo;s actually been about 20 years since I last attended one. 

..."Reporting reveals Minnesota precinct caucuses on February 3, 2026, saw a significant, historic increase in attendance for both DFL and Republican parties across the state, exceeding typical midterm turnout with many first-time attendees. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Welcoming Prayer: A Lenten Practice</title><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2026-02-10T11:34:20-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/welcoming-prayer.php#unique-entry-id-57</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/welcoming-prayer.php#unique-entry-id-57</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Once you&rsquo;ve learned the practice, it can be a tool to connect with your body, your soul, and your faith anywhere you go, in any moment, no matter what you&rsquo;re feeling.   As we navigate the extraordinary challenges of these days in Minnesota and across the country, the Welcoming Prayer can be a powerful tool to help us ground ourselves in God&rsquo;s loving embrace so that we can respond, rather than react, to the instability and uncertainty around us. 


...Anyone can drop in at any time, and if you&rsquo;re able to make this part of your weekly schedule, you&rsquo;ll find a kind and curious community of folks practicing together. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Grace Blessed with Abundance</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-02-06T10:17:09-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/abundance.php#unique-entry-id-56</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/abundance.php#unique-entry-id-56</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When we started our stewardship campaign last year, we hoped to achieve an 11% increase in annual giving for 2026. 

...	&bull;	$5,000 to improve A/V (which is already underway so that the mics don&rsquo;t cut out and we&rsquo;ll be able to live stream services),


...Please join us in thanks to God for these gifts and the wonderful community which we continue to create.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Sound of Winter Ice Cracking</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-02-02T14:06:03-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/walk-humbly.php#unique-entry-id-55</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/walk-humbly.php#unique-entry-id-55</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Friends, Yesterday the Rev. Anna Broadbent-Evelyn preached a powerful sermon on the text from Micah above, connecting us with the season of winter, the healing power of the jingle dress as the sound of winter's ice cracking, insight into the Hebrew word for 'humble' and the Greek word for 'meek.' 

...First, a video letter from more than 150 Episcopal bishops addressing the crisis of constitutionality and violence happening in Minnesota and across the country. 

...He places the reader in the midst of the rise of the Third Reich through the experience of families in the U.S., Germany , the Soviet Union, England and Wales.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Radical Resistance through Community</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-01-28T15:45:39-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/resistance-community.php#unique-entry-id-54</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/resistance-community.php#unique-entry-id-54</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Personally I don&rsquo;t know that I&rsquo;ve experienced, at least in my lifetime (outside of COVID), being aware of so many people in my orbit experiencing the the trauma of ongoing emotional overload all at the same time. ...  At the same time however, I don&rsquo;t know that I&rsquo;ve ever experienced witnessing so many obvious examples of people all at once acting on their values to care for their friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens. ...  Being at our service this past Sunday reminded me that simply showing up and being in community with our congregation and feeling the presence and support of each other is also a another way of putting our faith into action. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Do Justice&#x2c; Love Mercy&#x2c; Walk Humbly</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-01-28T09:19:54-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/love-mercy.php#unique-entry-id-53</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/love-mercy.php#unique-entry-id-53</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[We have witnessed Immigration and Customs Enforcement removing people from homes, work, and school based on door-knocking in random neighborhoods and swarming schools, health care facilities, Mexican restaurants, child care centers or gas station parking lots all in hopes of finding someone, anyone, to detain. 

...Friday morning Susan and I, with a wonderful handful of people from Grace, were at the airport to raise our voices demanding that Delta (and others) stop being complicit in removing people from our state to detention centers God knows where. 

...Then, with at least 50,000 of our closest friends, many of you among them, we gathered downtown, we watched out for each other, we shared hand and foot warmers, we sang, and were kind to one another as we became Minnesota fierce. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Protesting Faithfully</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-01-23T11:37:30-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/light-in-darkness.php#unique-entry-id-52</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/light-in-darkness.php#unique-entry-id-52</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Below, find a 'Pledge of Nonviolence' that all participants in the 1963 Birmingham Civil Rights Movement were asked to sign -- a reminder about the spiritual rigor of that movement, which we can learn from today.


..."The forces of evil want us to meet anger with anger, they want us to meet fear with fear, and they want us to meet scorn with scorn. 

...So when you show up in the midst of anger and fear and scorn this week, my invitation to you is to show up as a force for de-escalation, for protection, for invitation to hearts of flesh, for the dignity of every human being before you.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>All People&#x2c; All Persons&#x2c; Every Human Being</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-01-12T16:30:23-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/all-persons.php#unique-entry-id-51</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/all-persons.php#unique-entry-id-51</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Lest we get the wrong idea&mdash;that this story is a cozy moment between Jesus and John the Baptist and God&mdash;I reminded people that John the Baptist was anything but apolitical. 

...Looking further out, stay tuned for ways to put your faith into action with other members of GEC and interfaith groups around the state by caucusing and marching on Palm Sunday to support feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and welcoming the stranger.


...If you can trust that God will never stop loving you, then you can, with God&rsquo;s help, live out your baptismal promises to honor the dignity of every human being and to strive for justice and peace. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>On the Shoulders of Giants</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-01-09T10:39:29-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/shoulders-of-giants.php#unique-entry-id-50</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/shoulders-of-giants.php#unique-entry-id-50</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[You know, everyone who participated in the Montgomery bus boycott, everybody who went down for the Freedom Summers, everybody who has ever fought for anything in this country, we are standing on their shoulders. ...  And remember that that is important for two reasons, not just because they are sending us their strength, but because we are becoming repositories in which to store that strength so that when our work is done we become the shoulders for the next generation to stand on.   And someday they will be saying we stand on the shoulders of giants and they will be thinking of all of you as well as everyone who came before. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Epiphany</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2026-01-07T14:18:12-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/epiphany-2026.php#unique-entry-id-48</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/epiphany-2026.php#unique-entry-id-48</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Today we mark the Feast of the Epiphany&mdash;and there are resources for you below to help you claim this holy day. 


...Today, on the Feast of the Epiphany, we tell the story of the wise ones who followed the star to find a newborn king in Bethlehem.


...O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Try a Little Tenderness</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-12-22T12:57:15-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/tenderness.php#unique-entry-id-47</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/tenderness.php#unique-entry-id-47</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[God showed up in the midst of Joseph's personal catastrophe, with both comfort and a challenge that he hadn&rsquo;t expected.


...She contrasted that with many of the models of masculinity on display in our culture now and invited us to try a little tenderness. 

...I hope we'll see you for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - and if you're traveling and celebrating with loved ones, may you have a safe journey and return with hearts full and renewed to practice the way of Jesus in the new year.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Sharing Courage</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-12-20T22:43:15-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/share-courage.php#unique-entry-id-46</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/share-courage.php#unique-entry-id-46</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[On Sunday, I preached about Jesus using coded language from the Hebrew Bible to send hope to John the Baptist, who was in a Roman dungeon, awaiting execution.   Jesus is carrying the torch for John, working for the same mission John gave his life's energy to serve -- God's vision of a world of love and justice.   Today, in the midst of so much chaos and relentless spectacle of unconstitutional cruelty nearby, and scenes of hate and violence around the world, we need to look for the people carrying that torch today. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Standing Up for Neighbors</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-12-10T09:25:16-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/standing-up.php#unique-entry-id-45</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/standing-up.php#unique-entry-id-45</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Immigration raids and deportation are being used to target not criminals but legal residents, undocumented non-criminal taxpaying workers, families, and people who dare to speak out against the current administration. 

...Those of us who are not being targeted have a unique power to step in, with God's help, to help be the hands and feet of Christ for our neighbors.   As you navigate our city in the coming weeks, please keep your rights as a legal observer in mind, and ask God for the courage to step up when you see injustice. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Hope in the Dark</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-12-03T14:15:09-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/hope-dark.php#unique-entry-id-44</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/hope-dark.php#unique-entry-id-44</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The earliest Christians took seriously the promise that Jesus would come back, so much so that early Christian leaders had to tell people: no, please don&rsquo;t quit your jobs and go live on a mountaintop watching for signs in the sky. 

...Jesus is talking about a flood coming along and sweeping people away, and in that context, I&rsquo;m pretty sure we want to be the ones who get left behind. 

...One of the major problems with Rapture theology is the way it cherrypicks texts like this one from various places in the Gospels to support a very specific, very historically recent, very imaginative vision of the second coming.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Jesus&#x27; Actions Reveal the Way of Love</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-26T08:43:53-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/actions-show.php#unique-entry-id-43</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/actions-show.php#unique-entry-id-43</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[That organization is planning a series of national demonstrations and public actions in the spring, to gather people of faith around three key Christian practices: feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and welcoming the stranger. 

...Grace could position ourselves as a source of spiritual nourishment for the work each of our members does to practice the way of Jesus; we could also position ourselves as a vector for shared ministry in this direction. 

...I hope you get to eat something delicious with people you love this week, and I'll see you soon for the first Sunday of Advent.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Finding Community</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-26T08:14:54-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/finding-community.php#unique-entry-id-42</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/finding-community.php#unique-entry-id-42</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I started attending Grace Episcopal Church in the spring of 2023 because I was curious about the kind of faith community that hangs prayer flags from its trees, offers food and books to its neighbors in sidewalk libraries, and honors those who have died with a garden. 

...As excited as I am for this next step, I&rsquo;m going to miss the people and places that have filled this chapter of my life &ndash; and I want to take this moment to thank the Grace community for being such an important part of these last few years.   I can&rsquo;t claim to have found answers to any of the big, hard questions I came to Grace asking, but it has been deeply meaningful to me to have the support of this community while asking them.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Hope Within Us</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-20T12:01:59-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/hope-within.php#unique-entry-id-41</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/hope-within.php#unique-entry-id-41</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[That theme of defiant hope was strong at last week's Annual Convention of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota&mdash;a gathering of clergy and lay leaders from the 100-ish congregations of the diocese for prayer and learning and worship and governance. 


..."We often still try to sustain the local congregation as a full service program center for all types and peoples and interests &ndash; as if we could paddle the boat at the same speed that it used to be blown by strong cultural tailwinds. 

...What God asks, and what the world needs, is for us to look like the cross of Jesus Christ, meeting the forces that assault God&rsquo;s children with God&rsquo;s fierce and gentle love, joining the Spirit, gathering all of it to God&rsquo;s perfect embrace.&rdquo; 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Pro-Democracy</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-19T12:39:48-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/pro-democracy.php#unique-entry-id-40</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/pro-democracy.php#unique-entry-id-40</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena. 

...This past election day, November 4, I had the opportunity to volunteer here at Grace Episcopal Church as a lobby host to help greet voters, help them find their way around the building, and help with security issues."


...I found it impressive that she was putting her own values into action by encouraging someone to vote and help them get registered." -Submitted by Joe L.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Voices from Convention</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-19T12:30:26-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/convention-2025.php#unique-entry-id-39</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/convention-2025.php#unique-entry-id-39</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There were so many moments I could share about that experience, but I will have to keep it simple-such as: Bishop Loya's address to the convention-if you have access to that, I highly recommend it. ...  What he reminded us so deeply is this: "we may feel we are in a Babylonian type exile, rather than rage against it, let's get comfortable with discomfort, settle in, plant gardens, start a family, and seek the welfare of those around you" that this is a "gift to be embraced, tend to small communities of practice, witness and resistance!" 

...When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, &ldquo;As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.&rdquo;
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>In My End is My Beginning</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-12T15:58:37-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/my-beginning.php#unique-entry-id-38</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/my-beginning.php#unique-entry-id-38</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In all the ways we find ourselves lost after the death of a loved one, God holds out a promise of resurrection that offers new life.   I believe that new life does not erase the pain and wounds we carry, but lets us move forward, healed, forgiving and forgiven, with the hard-won wisdom of all those chapters of our lives. 

...In just a few weeks we'll celebrate Christ the King Sunday -- the 'end' of the liturgical calendar, when we proclaim Jesus as God's final word of restoration and hope. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Liberated Life</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-11T13:25:15-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/liberated-life.php#unique-entry-id-37</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/liberated-life.php#unique-entry-id-37</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA["Between December 2024 and November 2025, I felt called by God to write seven Bible commentaries (Genesis, Luke (x3), Acts, Romans, and Revelation) to explore what a Liberated Life looks like. 

...My journey in writing these commentaries has shown me that Christians are called to a higher standard of grace and mercy, exemplified by loving God and loving your neighbor. ...  Messages become distorted when we allow guilt, shame, and judgement to dictate our reading of God's Word, which is intended to unite us, not divide us. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>All Saints &#x26; All Souls</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-04T14:53:53-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/pauli-murray.php#unique-entry-id-36</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/pauli-murray.php#unique-entry-id-36</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[All Saints celebrates the Saints who have gone before us -- those whose lives show us what it looks like to practice the way of Jesus in their time, so that we can creative and courageous in ours.   From a fabulous litany and procession representing many saints, to music by our Parish and Youth choirs, to a celebration of our Pledge Campaign for 2026, the day was full of defiant joy. 

...Making sure our Food Box is fully stocked is another great way to show our support for the neighborhood and our ability to lead with compassion in the face of this new crisis.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Voting for the Common Good</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-11-04T14:48:21-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/vote.php#unique-entry-id-35</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/vote.php#unique-entry-id-35</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA["As I write this on the morning of Tuesday, November 4th, I'm looking forward to exercising my right to vote for elected officials in the city of Minneapolis. ...  It is found on their webpage: 'As a part of our stewardship in a democracy, Christians have an obligation to make the most educated decision possible about who will represent our concerns on the local, state, and national levels.   The voting booth is how we can participate in making sure there are leaders who will enact laws for the common good that do justice and love mercy; care for the most vulnerable in our society; ensure, to the extent possible, that our government lives up to this nation&rsquo;s ideals by the people and for all the people; and, perhaps most significantly, hold leaders accountable.'" ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Praying with My Feet</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-10-23T12:52:13-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/pray-feet.php#unique-entry-id-34</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/pray-feet.php#unique-entry-id-34</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena. 

...Then a statement from our own Bishop Craig Loya was read, which said in part 'Any refusal to enact simple and sensible gun control now is accepting the murder of innocent children as a normal part of our society. 

...We realize that many other things must happen in terms of equity and inclusion and care for the least able to care for themselves before we find a solution. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Using Money to Heal and Restore</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-10-23T12:41:10-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/money-to-heal.php#unique-entry-id-33</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/money-to-heal.php#unique-entry-id-33</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[If you're on a limited income or looking for work, if you aren't being paid during the shutdown, that amount of money would make a massive impact in your ability to sleep at night. 

...This hypothetical gift game challenges my values about how I tend to my family's needs and long-term interests, as I become more aware of the needs of my neighbors and community.


...That's why you'll see on our pledge card this year a box to acknowledge "I'm giving more this year knowing there are many in our faith community that have fewer financial resources at this time." ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Persistent Gentle Kindness</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-10-18T10:43:44-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/d955e6b66e77a229bc00bd8cfbbdf37d-32.php#unique-entry-id-32</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/d955e6b66e77a229bc00bd8cfbbdf37d-32.php#unique-entry-id-32</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In these present days, when there is so much pain, and fear, and anger swirling in all directions and from all sides, it is so easy to get hooked into thinking that being a force for good and hope must involve big actions fueled by righteous anger.   When I find myself going to that place, as I often do, when I get tricked into thinking following Jesus is about trying to win a battle rather than participate in God&rsquo;s project to heal the world with love, it&rsquo;s helpful to remember that my grandmother and Pastor Van helped shape my whole life by small, almost forgettable acts of gentle kindness. 


...Rather, just as the Lake Superior tributaries have carved out the canyons that hallow and transform yet another part of our beautiful Minnesota, so our persistent gentle kindness, through small communities over a long arc, when caught up in the resurrection&rsquo;s power, will flood the whole earth, and make all things new through the glorious power of love. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Reimagine a Hopeful Future</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-10-14T14:31:48-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/reimagine.php#unique-entry-id-31</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/reimagine.php#unique-entry-id-31</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[We dug into the hard good news the prophet Jeremiah offered to his country-people in exile, and the hard good news Jesus offers in seeing the faithfulness of the Samaritan healed of leprosy. 

...We talked about the story in which Jesus notices the faithfulness of the woman at the Temple who gives her last two copper coins, "all she had to live on." ...  What if Jesus was pointing out the hypocrisy of a system in which the wealthy could easily give large sums out of their abundance, while expecting sacrificial gifts from those most in need? ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Civic Discourse</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-10-14T13:18:35-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/meet-and-greet.php#unique-entry-id-30</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/meet-and-greet.php#unique-entry-id-30</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena. 

..."My wife Betsy S and I recently decided to host a meet and greet at our home for Mayor Jacob Frey. ...  I&rsquo;m sure that regardless of who we support, we all believe practicing Jesus' way of defiant, embodied, joyful love in our city means we try to create spaces for respectful civic discourse and engagement. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>We Have Been Set Free</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-10-10T07:40:26-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/set-free.php#unique-entry-id-29</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/set-free.php#unique-entry-id-29</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When I think I need to prove to others that I am smart enough, or good enough, or right enough, or likeable enough, or worthy of love, or whatever, then everyone who is different than me is a threat, every criticism is an attack, every disagreement is a battle I have to win. 

...If you are discouraged by the state of our nation, if you want to be a force for healing and good, then instead of just fighting harder in a world designed to lock us in perpetual warfare, try standing &ldquo;before  God as one approved by him. 

...When we set down the struggle to secure some imagined freedom, and accept that we have already been set free, we find, finally, the power to join God in setting the whole word free with irresistible joy, with unshakable hope, and with revolutionary love. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Faith Grows Like a Mustard Seed</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-10-09T11:59:41-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/mustard-seed.php#unique-entry-id-28</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/mustard-seed.php#unique-entry-id-28</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I hope you'll join us to reflect on the practice 'REIMAGINE' as part of Our Money Story. 

...So we cannot help but wonder&mdash;did you point her out to ask,


...Did you point her out to help us see the injustice that led to her suffering?
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Way of Jesus Amid Authoritarianism</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-10-01T08:18:24-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/authoritarianism.php#unique-entry-id-27</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/authoritarianism.php#unique-entry-id-27</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Yesterday, my sermon focused on the surprising meaning of a 6th-Century BCE scrap of real estate history -- the prophet Jeremiah, after decades of prophesying doom, releases his hold on that story just as the doom is about to come to pass. 

...This story has direct relevance to what I hear from so many of you and feel deeply myself -- a sense of despair that we are powerless to stop the authoritarian government we see now in the United States. 

...Jeremiah's claim to the deeper story -- that God's dream of shalom is greater than all empires and authoritarians -- is what we stand on today, too. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Canvassing as Spiritual Practice?</title><category>Commentaries</category><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2025-10-01T07:53:38-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/canvassing.php#unique-entry-id-26</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/canvassing.php#unique-entry-id-26</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I am co-organizing a group of everyday workers, parents, musicians, and more who are committed to knocking 10,000 doors for Omar Fateh because we share a vision for a city leader who walks the talk when it comes to advocating for affordable and quality education, creating lasting support systems for our unhoused neighbors, refusing to cooperate with the detainment of our immigrant community members, collaborating with colleagues including fellow candidates DeWayne Davis and Jazz Hampton, and so much more.


...It turns out that to leave the house, dressed in a campaign t-shirt with multiple buttons and holding more flyers than fit comfortably in my hand, to knock on someone&rsquo;s door whom I don't know and ask them what they really care about is one of the most faithful things I have done.   I perform my concerned neighbor part, I humble myself as a stranger, and I risk rejection and annoyance and bigotry in order to actually practice being a neighbor who listens to and connects with other neighbors&ndash;you and I both live here, how are we going to live here together? ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>God Wants to Help Reshape our Stories</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-09-11T14:20:58-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/our-stories.php#unique-entry-id-25</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/our-stories.php#unique-entry-id-25</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[God can do that reshaping work with us and with our stories, if we pause to remember what stories we've been telling ourselves. 

...And as Grace Episcopal Church looks to discern who God is calling us to be in the coming years, we are going to need to be able to remember and perhaps release some of our stories about money. 

...We hope it will be a season of openness, curiosity and healing, remembering the best of who we are and asking God to restore us into who we are called to be.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What is Helping You Act Like Jesus?</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-09-04T12:30:57-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/cracked-cisterns.php#unique-entry-id-24</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/cracked-cisterns.php#unique-entry-id-24</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Last Sunday's sermon focused on the text from the prophet Isaiah -- and on God's bewilderment, in Isaiah's words: &ldquo;My people have committed two evils &ndash; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.&rdquo; 

...As we send our kids back to schools that regularly have to do lockdown drills, as we metabolize this latest violation, as we try to care for our neighbors, I hope you will be exquisitely gentle with yourselves and each other.


...Now is the time to remember that the Eucharistic communities we serve are not nice gatherings offering maudlin spiritual comfort, but are in the business of subverting the world&rsquo;s violence with God&rsquo;s irresistible love." 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Prayers in the Wake of Violence</title><category>Commentaries</category><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2025-08-28T12:23:16-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/hope-violence.php#unique-entry-id-23</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/hope-violence.php#unique-entry-id-23</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I offer these prayers below, as you navigate exhaustion and fear and numbness and rage and grief, holding tight to a defiant hope in God's dream for the world: a life of safety and abundance, in right relationship with all our neighbors and the earth. 

...We pray as we as we call to mind the many victims of gun violence, those who have lost their lives, those who have lost their livelihood, and those who have lost life&rsquo;s passion. 

...We pray that in this time of heartbreak, grief, and loss that they might find comfort and hope to face the days ahead, and that their tears may be turned into songs of joy. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A Spiritual Practice for Anger</title><category>Commentaries</category><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2025-08-18T13:10:07-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/spiritual-anger.php#unique-entry-id-22</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/spiritual-anger.php#unique-entry-id-22</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In the sermon, I asked listeners to consider why Jesus was so frustrated, why people seemed to react with division to his message of peace, and how we let our own frustration and anger be a guide for our participation in the way of love. 

..."As followers of Jesus and heirs of God&rsquo;s promise to Abraham, our call in this moment is to stand in the face of that cynicism as people of outrageous, even laughable, hope.   Our call is to help lift heads hung heavy by the weight of death, injustice, and suffering, that we might all consider the stars, and make a choice to cling to nothing more, and nothing less, than the promise, most fully revealed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, that love&rsquo;s power to bring in God&rsquo;s perfect reign exceeds even their seemingly endless number. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What We Long for&#x2c; but Cannot Purchase</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-08-06T14:26:52-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/gods-economy.php#unique-entry-id-21</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/gods-economy.php#unique-entry-id-21</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Real security is to be found in God and in the webs of interdependence, of trust and reciprocal giving, that we find in generous community.   Real security is &ldquo;what we long for but cannot ever purchase &ndash; being valued for your own unique gifts, earning the regard of your neighbors for the quality of your character not the quantity of your possessions, what you give, not what you have." 

...Jesus invites us out of the economy of scarcity and competition and into an economy of gift and celebration (check out the parables about the lost coin, the dinner party with guests from the highways and hedges...). ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Joyfully Rigorous</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-07-24T09:39:53-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/joy-rigor.php#unique-entry-id-20</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/joy-rigor.php#unique-entry-id-20</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When I say he has a love for the game, I mean, he probably spends most of his spare mental space thinking of plays to run with the kids, which kid needs extra practice on what type of skill, and what he&rsquo;s going to do about the kid who&rsquo;s getting down on himself.


...They knew he didn&rsquo;t want them to be better for his ego or just because he wanted to win (though to be clear, he really wanted to win), he wanted them to be better because he loved the game, and he wanted them to love the game too. 

...Doing the small things like reading my Bible in the morning even when I&rsquo;m tired, finding ways to pray about things that have me all tangled up in my spirit, giving and showing love in ways that truly cost me something, doing all of this with excellence matters. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Here I Am: Send Me</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-07-10T12:00:04-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/send-me.php#unique-entry-id-19</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/send-me.php#unique-entry-id-19</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[What if we take that memory (that I'm guessing many of you can relate to), and picture yourself sitting in front of God?


...Well, you gave me the gift to see other people as they are and to love them, even when it's hard.


...And then you will see your gifts tucked inside and you will know how I need you to use them.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Press on with Yet More Courage</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-06-18T13:33:38-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/courage-healing.php#unique-entry-id-18</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/courage-healing.php#unique-entry-id-18</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[We pray for John and Yvette Hoffman and their daughter, that they will be filled with the healing power of the Holy Spirit, that they may be able to recover and be raised up as signs of your love for the world.


...We pray for all those tempted to violence, and for those who stoke the flames of hatred, that their hearts will be turned to your way of love. 


And we pray for those who serve in positions of public trust in our legislature and everywhere, that in the midst of such fear, your love will give them the courage to continue in their duties with integrity and to press on with yet more courage toward your dream of love for this hurting world.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Institutional Resistance Rooted in Christian Conviction</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-06-13T16:09:12-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/resistance-conviction.php#unique-entry-id-17</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/resistance-conviction.php#unique-entry-id-17</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[young people, we prayed for Morris+ as he steps into retirement from being the deacon assigned at Grace Episcopal Church, we celebrated Linnea's graduation, we had a parade of birds, there was a fabulous anthem from some of our younger singers -- it was a day full of the Holy Spirit! 

...In a letter to the whole church today, our Presiding Bishop says, "At its best, our church is capable of moral clarity and resolute commitment to justice. ...  Churches like ours, protected by the First Amendment and practiced in galvanizing people of goodwill, may be some of the last institutions capable of resisting the injustice now being promulgated. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Reflections on the Racial Justice and Healing Retreat</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-05-20T10:16:34-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/justice-retreat.php#unique-entry-id-16</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/justice-retreat.php#unique-entry-id-16</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It was the most incredible church service I had ever been a part of and using this perspective to interpret scripture "broke open" the Bible for me in a way that I had never thirsted for before.   I am not a person who usually wants to "crack open" my Bible, yet this retreat left me with an electrifying need to know and encounter God more, and an escalating desire to take personal and collective action towards justice (even more than before).


..."What Jesus both promises and expects of us is not to escape from it, but to keep casting into new places, in new ways, so that we can join God in drawing the whole world into the net of God's liberating life, shouting our joyful and defiant alleluia to all the forces that break down the children God so cherishes, and longs to hold."]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Deepening Spiritual Culture</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-05-02T12:03:08-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/spiritual-culture.php#unique-entry-id-15</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/spiritual-culture.php#unique-entry-id-15</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[From the Healing Prayer team that gathers once a month and prays at the back of the church on Sunday mornings, to the Centering Prayer practice here each Wednesday at 5:30pm, to the adults leading Godly Play with our youngest members, lay (non-ordained) leaders create a shared culture of discipleship at Grace. 


...Similarly, a team of four members from Grace are participating in the three-year Transforming Hearts program offered by the Episcopal House of Prayer. 

...I preached on Easter Sunday that we can find courage to practice the way of Jesus from four touchstones: Time spent with Jesus, deep connection to others on the way, humble service, and remembering the resurrection. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Palm Sunday</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-04-16T15:27:18-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/palm-sunday.php#unique-entry-id-14</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/palm-sunday.php#unique-entry-id-14</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Pontius Pilate's imperial motorcade, with centurions and chariots and soldiers, came into the city around the Passover to ensure that the holiday, celebrating the escape of the Hebrews from another oppressive regime, didn't repeat itself. 

...If you're curious to learn more about this reading of Palm Sunday, I recommend The Last Week: What the Scriptures Really Teach about Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan.


...Walking with Jesus to the cross, with all of the beauty and violence in that story, is one way we can build our own courage to practice the way of Jesus today.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>From Palms to Olive Branches: A Guided Lenten Practice</title><category>Audio</category><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2025-04-11T14:47:47-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/palms-olives.php#unique-entry-id-13</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/palms-olives.php#unique-entry-id-13</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Perhaps there are opportunities to notice power being wielded in the world that fits one or both of these models Jesus displays for us - how do you interact with it?


Or perhaps an opportunity arises to channel and utilize your own power &ndash; can you consciously choose to adorn yourself with a certain version of power based on what you&rsquo;ve found in your body?


Move forward into Holy Week with this felt sense relationship to different forms of power  - invite your consciousness to be aware, to choose, to engage or not from a place of connection to your own body and to the teaching of Jesus as he moved forward in his own intense and unprecedented times. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>From Obligation to Devotion: A Guided Lenten Practice</title><category>Audio</category><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2025-04-06T12:16:41-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/obligation-devotion.php#unique-entry-id-12</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/obligation-devotion.php#unique-entry-id-12</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[And yet Jesus offers this invitation &ndash; to move from all the duties and &lsquo;shoulds&rsquo; of our lives, along with the resentment and exhaustion they bring, to a place of heartfelt, passionate devotion. 

...Now, keeping that same sensate notion of care and holding &ndash; with its felt, embodied, spirit of offering care and love, and turn it away from the calendars, the lists, the apps, the stress and towards God. 

...Perhaps you can schedule in some time to be face to face with God&rsquo;s glory, or perhaps you can put a post it note up in the kitchen, reminding you to shine the felt nectar of your devotion to God. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Don&#x27;t Just Do Something...</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-04-03T12:10:53-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/dont-just-do.php#unique-entry-id-11</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/dont-just-do.php#unique-entry-id-11</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Mary&rsquo;s interruption of a church meeting with an act of extravagant contemplation reminds us that the actions we take in the world will always be misguided unless they are grown in the soil of regular and intimate encounters with Jesus. 

...The time we spend in prayer is about being saturated in the perfume of God&rsquo;s love, so that we render the scent of it wherever we go. ...  So beloved, in these late days of Lent, for the love of God, don&rsquo;t just do something, stand there, with Jesus, until death&rsquo;s hold on the world is fully and gloriously swallowed by God&rsquo;s eternal Easter Day.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>From Shame to Belovedness: A Guided Lenten Practice</title><category>Audio</category><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2025-03-30T12:09:44-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/shame-belovedness.php#unique-entry-id-10</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/shame-belovedness.php#unique-entry-id-10</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[With words or just an open awareness, invite God&rsquo;s light into this place and ask for softening, for healing, for a drop of belovedness to penetrate and nourish this spot.


...These ruptures can feel so scary and painful that often hide them away, deep in the shadows and fertilize them with shame &ndash; beliefs about our own lack of goodness and worthiness or another person&rsquo;s lack of goodness and worthiness.


...Choose an idea that resonates with you as a way to practice God&rsquo;s love in human relationship because of the painful yet glorious truth of our imperfection, not in spite of it. ]]></content:encoded><enclosure url="https:/graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/podcast_10.mp3" length="10158743" type="audio/mpeg"/></item><item><title>From Curse to Blessing: A Guided Lenten Practice</title><category>Spiritual Practice</category><category>Audio</category><dc:date>2025-03-19T11:22:43-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/curse-blessing.php#unique-entry-id-9</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/curse-blessing.php#unique-entry-id-9</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Invite your breath to soften and lengthen &ndash; signaling to your mind and nervous system that it&rsquo;s ok to drop into this moment, there is no place else to go, nothing else to do.


...As your body starts to relax and release this fear into your breath and gentle touch &ndash; intentionally choose to shift your attention to Jesus&rsquo; invitation to set down the debate about sin and punishment and instead turn towards bearing the fruit of God&rsquo;s love. 

...Consider your week ahead &ndash; as you scan the days and hours, let opportunities for bearing loving fruit present themselves &ndash; what chances do you have to choose this way of being? ]]></content:encoded><enclosure url="https:/graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/podcast_9.mp3" length="8516158" type="audio/mpeg"/></item><item><title>From Doom to Clarity: A Guided Lenten Practice</title><category>Spiritual Practice</category><category>Audio</category><dc:date>2025-03-16T12:49:34-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/doom-clarity.php#unique-entry-id-8</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/doom-clarity.php#unique-entry-id-8</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[With curiosity as your companion, consider the actions and patterns you notice in the world right now &ndash; what is it like to intentionally feel and grieve the ways that humans act against our common good? 

...As you use your present moment awareness to turn back towards God&rsquo;s invitation to return to the path of loving and right action &ndash; what is yours to claim? 

...Feel into the collective strength of the shared faith that even when our self-destructive tendencies are laid bare, we can choose again and again to return to love, return to action, return to one choice that connects us to God and our fellow humans.
]]></content:encoded><enclosure url="https:/graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/podcast_8.mp3" length="9303171" type="audio/mpeg"/></item><item><title>From Control to Trust: A Guided Lenten Practice</title><category>Spiritual Practice</category><category>Audio</category><dc:date>2025-03-09T12:44:13-05:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/control-to-trust.php#unique-entry-id-7</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/control-to-trust.php#unique-entry-id-7</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Invite your breath to soften and lengthen &ndash; signaling to your mind and nervous system that it&rsquo;s ok to drop into this moment, there is no place else to go, nothing else to do. 


...Let it continue up, checking in with the diaphragm, the rib cage, the lungs &ndash; take some time to saturate all the vital organs and muscles in your chest cavity with awareness and breath.  


...Feel God take it from you &ndash; not in a way that makes it entirely disappear or dissipate &ndash; but in a way where you can rest your arms and have some distance from carrying it all alone.  
]]></content:encoded><enclosure url="https:/graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/podcast_7.mp3" length="8741023" type="audio/mpeg"/></item><item><title>Falling in Love with Lent</title><category>Commentaries</category><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2025-03-05T15:57:05-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/love-lent.php#unique-entry-id-6</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/love-lent.php#unique-entry-id-6</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Death and renewal happen every year as the snow melts and the world turns green again, as friendships fade and new ones form, as the death of a loved one cracks us open and ushers in a new part of ourselves we may have never had access to before. 

...It is because of, not despite, the world in which we live that we intentionally prepare, listening for God&rsquo;s call through the cacophony of sound and taking another step closer to God and who God created us to be. 

...During this time when the world feels big and scary for so many of us, when emotions run high and it feels like we spend our days fighting, fleeing, and fawning, we are reminded of the words and deeds of our faith. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Making Space for God</title><category>Commentaries</category><category>Spiritual Practice</category><dc:date>2025-03-05T13:51:35-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/bishop-lent.php#unique-entry-id-5</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/bishop-lent.php#unique-entry-id-5</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There I was, full of the adrenaline-fueled, frenetic energy that comes from trying to get out the door quickly, and suddenly I was forced to just stay put, and sit still. 

...We, like our original parents in the Garden of Eden, so often live our lives as if we are like God, as if the world depends on our efforts rather than God&rsquo;s power and love. 

...So as we travel these forty days waiting for God&rsquo;s sun to emerge again, how can you heed Lenten&rsquo;s blizzard call to sit still, to stay put, to dig deep into the soil of God&rsquo;s power and love, so that together, we might bear the true and lasting Easter fruit of live, justice, peace, and everlasting joy?
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>From Superficial to Real: A Guided Lenten Practice for March 5</title><category>Spiritual Practice</category><category>Audio</category><dc:date>2025-03-03T11:16:37-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/superficial-real.php#unique-entry-id-4</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/superficial-real.php#unique-entry-id-4</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Invite your breath to soften and lengthen &ndash; signaling to your mind and nervous system that it&rsquo;s ok to drop into this moment, there is no place else to go, nothing else to do. 


...Let it continue up, checking in with the diaphragm, the rib cage, the lungs &ndash; take some time to saturate all the vital organs and muscles in your chest cavity with awareness and breath.  


...Or it may look like finding a secret room in your mind &ndash; one that is safe and cozy and private &ndash; can you open the door and invite God more fully into that room? &nbsp;
]]></content:encoded><enclosure url="https:/graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/podcast_4.mp3" length="7276930" type="audio/mpeg"/></item><item><title>Crisis or Opportunity?</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-02-26T15:33:08-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/crisis-opportunity.php#unique-entry-id-3</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/crisis-opportunity.php#unique-entry-id-3</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I've heard from many of you in response to my post last week, and I have shared some of those responses (with permission) with the parish through our weekly email.


...The Episcopal Church holds dear the notion that we don't all have to agree with each other on politics nor on the finer points of theology. ...  So we don't all have to agree; in a deeply divided nation, seeing and hearing each other's hopes and fears is itself an act of faith in the God whose dream of Beloved Community continues to inspire us.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Spiritual Crisis?</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-02-20T13:43:20-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/crisis.php#unique-entry-id-2</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/crisis.php#unique-entry-id-2</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Larry invited us to hear the blessings and the woes we read from the Gospel of Luke as if Jesus were speaking directly to us, and to claim &ldquo;the triumph of love in the face of the lust for power and control.&rdquo; 

...My hunch&mdash;grasping in the dark here&mdash;is that many folks, especially white moderates and progressives, are feeling disoriented by the seeming loss of something we've taken for granted: stable, multicultural democracy. ...  But there's too much to do, too many fronts to act on, and we aren't sure how to determine what our 'lane' is. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Just Dance</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-02-12T12:20:25-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/feb25-dance.php#unique-entry-id-1</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/feb25-dance.php#unique-entry-id-1</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I'm grateful for the leadership of our young people who offered their voices and interpretations and movement to preach the Good News today, and to the adults who supported them in the process!


In the midst of the onslaught of executive orders, in the midst of Project 2025 playing out before our eyes, in the midst of climate catastrophe and all our civic and personal fears and disasters, we got to see yesterday morning a small group of faithful people interpret the Gospel and invite us into the dance. ...  Dance is just about as perfect a practice of that kind of love as we could come up with:&nbsp;Showing up in our bodies, with defiant joy, resiliently committing to trust in God and to share love despite the fear and despair that we might feel. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Chaos and Stillness</title><category>Commentaries</category><dc:date>2025-01-29T12:10:49-06:00</dc:date><link>https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/jan25-chaos.php#unique-entry-id-0</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://graceepiscopalmpls.org/blog/files/jan25-chaos.php#unique-entry-id-0</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Before last Sunday's Annual Meeting, I preached about Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple, who went to President Lincoln to ask for mercy for the Dakota warriors, who had been condemned to death en masse. 

...It makes me think of the story in 1 Kings 19, in which Elijah, reeling, flees for his life from the pursuit of his enemies, and hides in a remote cave in the wilderness, and waits for a word from God. 


...The God who spoke out of the silence and chaos of Creation, the God who was courageously silent in trial before state-sponsored execution, the God whose wind and flame broke over the earliest Christians and breathes in us now, is present in the midst of the noise and fear. ]]></content:encoded></item></channel>
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