"A Sanctuary in the City… Living Faith"

The Pastor’s Blog

The Reverend Dr. Seth E. Weeldreyer’s Blog

Invitation to Enjoy

This is what I miss most of our life together pre-pandemic. I am every bit as busy (or more!) than I ever was, but those moments of silliness, of shared laughter, of small talk, of shared pieces of life are harder to come by.

Daily Prayers

In these days, when typical routines which structure our day seem to blur or disappear, we might begin to feel disoriented – in heart and mind, if not actual time. Throughout our Christian heritage, people have tried to frame each day with practices of prayer—like portals into the next stage of our 24-hour journey—seeking to remain every oriented by Holy Love within and among us. What follows is a sort of simple rhythm in the spirit of Benedictine practice. Of course, if we find them useful, we can personalize these prayers in whatever space or precise moment we pause and open to God’s presence..

..So that you will be a blessing

One of the first expressions of covenant promise in scripture comes when God calls Abraham and Sarah to set off on the journey to a foreign land, where they will settle and begin new life. God charges and promises: “Go from your country and your kindred and your family plot to the land that I…

Blessings

I am thinking about blessing this week. How we receive and offer blessings to other people we know intimately or meet casually in the course of a day. Here’s a quote I’ve been mulling, from To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donahue: “A blessing … touches that tender membrane where the human heart…

Passing By

One congregation member remarked that she has come by to sit in her car and meditate on this artistic piece hung on our church exterior for all the world passing by to see. She cherished how she and her husband exited on their wedding day through former doors where this piece now hangs. In this…

Holy Stained Glass

” Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. … For…

Barriers

This picture is one of my favorites that I took on our recent Israel/Palestine pilgrimage. It was on the Mount of the Beatitudes, and I was deeply struck by the irony of this image. A fountain of water springing forth from a rock, the words of Christ from the Gospel of John inviting all who…

Reaching Jerusalem

Today, we reached Jerusalem. We began the morning early with the Haram Al-Sharif (or Temple Mount). It is the place where according to scripture Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac. It has become the center of so much beauty and inspiration … and so much controversy, conflict, and sacrifice ongoing today. For Muslims, it houses…

Wadi Qilt

We worshiped today at the Wadi Qilt. This place inspired Psalm 23 — though it’s not exactly “green pastures and still waters.” Amid the dry and seemingly barren landscape one can see crisscrossing trails of sheep over the years. There are a few tufts of vegetation. There is dry creek/river bed that would become a…