A Sacred Presence - Home to Heart

Monday, July 20, 2020

From Home to Heart: Forgiveness

A few months ago, Holy Communion received a loan under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program. It made a big difference in our operations and gave us confidence that we could afford to continue paying our bills. With that money largely spent, we are now preparing to apply for “forgiveness.” “Forgiveness” is a theological word that bankers have borrowed. Financial forgiveness is receiving permission not to repay a debt, but theological... Read More

Posted by The Reverend Sandy Webb at Monday, July 20, 2020

COVID-19 forgiveness Home to Heart

Monday, July 6, 2020

From Home to Heart: Ethics

The hardest questions to answer in a seminary ethics class are those that put two goods in tension: If you select Option A, certain things will happen. If you select Option B, other things will happen. Each option has some good outcomes and some bad outcomes, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too. How do you choose? The easiest way out of these dilemmas is to appeal to some core value – a principle, or a rule – that will give you some perspective. If... Read More

Posted by The Reverend Sandy Webb at Monday, July 6, 2020

Home to Heart

Sunday, June 28, 2020

From Home to Heart: Trees & Trauma

Trees have long memories. Trees are changed by their experiences. The rings of trees absorb their history: Droughts, floods, fires, injuries, and diseases – they’re all recorded. Our bodies have long memories, too. Psychologists tell us that the human body remembers trauma in all its forms – the horrific traumas that are evoked by the word, as well as the invisible traumas that can be just as devastating. The body absorbs them all, and is changed by... Read More

Posted by The Reverend Sandy Webb at Sunday, June 28, 2020

Home to Heart Trees COVID-19

Monday, June 15, 2020

From Home to Heart: Original Sin

The church’s ancient doctrine of original sin can be hard to get our arms around. Why does Adam’s sin carry on to me? I didn’t eat the apple. I didn’t seek to be like God. Here’s the key to understanding original sin: It’s not about you. The idea that sin is about our own individual actions and inactions was rejected in the fifth century. Sin is about the state of the world. None of us started it, and none of us can stop it.... Read More

Posted by The Reverend Sandy Webb at Monday, June 15, 2020

Home to Heart racism Highlighted

Monday, May 25, 2020

From Home to Heart: Neighborhood

My neighborhood feels larger than it did three months ago. We still have the same number of houses, and the streets are still configured in the same way, but the neighborhood just feels larger. As a result of this pandemic, I have spent more time in my neighborhood. We have been eating dinner on our front porch, which has given us a better sense of the people who live near us and of the people who walk their dogs on our street. I have been exercising in the... Read More

Posted by The Reverend Sandy Webb at Monday, May 25, 2020

Community COVID-19 Home to Heart

Monday, May 11, 2020

Home to Heart: Disruption

Disruption is the forerunner of creation. Whenever God creates something new, he first disrupts something old. In the very beginning, scripture tells us, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the deep. Then, God disrupted it. God created light, and then boundaries, and then life itself. God disrupted what was so that God could create what is. The ministry of Jesus was similarly disruptive. A pandemic of sin had plagued the world since Eden, and just when it seemed that... Read More

Posted by The Reverend Sandy Webb at Monday, May 11, 2020

creation COVID-19 Home to Heart

Monday, May 4, 2020

Home to Heart: Dreams

I recently saw a sign in the park near my home: “COVID-19 helped me dream.” What an unexpected thought: A global pandemic helped me dream. I do not know what the writer meant, but I have found myself more open to new possibilities recently, to the opportunities that this crisis presents for me as a person and for us as a community of faith. This moment may be dark, but our future is bright. Have you ever noticed that most dreams come to us in the night? We need to be... Read More

Posted by The Reverend Sandy Webb at Monday, May 4, 2020

COVID-19 Home to Heart

Monday, April 27, 2020

Home to Heart: Sabbath

Theologian Walter Brueggemann suggests that observing sabbath is an act of resistance. The patterns of life in American culture do not encourage us to take times of rest. We have to claim them, and then we have to guard them. God did not design creation to work that way: On the seventh day, God rested from all of his labors – all of his labors. And, in the Fourth Commandment, God begs us to do the same. Brueggemann goes on to say that it is our consistent disregard for the Fourth... Read More

Posted by The Reverend Sandy Webb at Monday, April 27, 2020

COVID-19 sabbath rest Home to Heart

Category: Home to Heart