June 18, 2025

June 18, 2025

by | Jun 18, 2025 | PS from PS

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I saw a church sign last year when I was out for a run that read:

Hurt people, hurt people.
Healed people, heal people.

Seems to be profoundly true.  

Our lesson coming up this weekend is Luke 8:26-39.  And it’s a good one…unless you’re an unsuspecting pig that is.  You can click that link to read it or here’s the summary: guy has demons in him; people shun him and he lives in isolation in the “tombs”; demons recognize Jesus; Jesus calls out demons; demons are sent into nearby pigs; pigs jump over a cliff; pig owners are super mad; they tell the village and confront Jesus; they find the man, now healed, sitting with Jesus; they force Jesus out of town; the healed guy wants to go with; Jesus says: go back to your town and proclaim the healing you’ve received.

Several questions come to mind as I read this story:

1.  How did these folks get so blinded to the man’s pain that they left him to live in the tombs?  What happened in their own lives that they ignored his needs and allowed for this isolation to happen?  But I guess: hurt people, hurt people.

2.  Isn’t it amazing that the demons throughout the Bible always seem to recognize Jesus?  Sometimes faster than the regular towns folks!  The demons know there’s a “call out” coming from God and want to avoid it most times.  Even they can sense God’s power over evil.  Can we?  

3.  Are we more concerned about our own pigs than we are for those who are suffering and in need of healing and community?  Are we willing to sacrifice and even change vocations (if we’re out of pigs) to see the healing that is needed and celebrate when it happens?

4.  Seems like it might be a tad risky to return to your own town to proclaim God’s healing when some folks just lost their income source and others ignored you when you were hurting?  I guess following Jesus involves some risk.  Some challenges.  Some changes.  But it seems that the potential for healing of others is worth the risk and could lead to bigger and better things.  Healed people, heal people.  

There’s a lot going on in this story.  There’s a lot going on in our stories.  There are a lot of questions.  But throughout it all, we find Jesus once again standing with the least, little, lonely and left behind.  We find Jesus healing.  We find Jesus present.  We find Jesus inviting us to proclaim.  

In the midst of all the questions in your story, may you find the same.

Lord, thanks for being in the questions with healing, power and presence.  AmenStill in One Peace,
ps
June 18, 2025

June 4, 2025

by | Jun 3, 2025 | PS from PS

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I love doing the Children’s Time at church!

They are some of the most real and vulnerable conversations I have about Jesus all week.  I get untapped enthusiasm and blank stares all together at the same time.  Which is also similar to my regular sermons actually.

This week the kids and I talked about being in the month of June!  It’s exciting and comes with some conclusions: regular school…and Sunday School.  They were excited about the conclusions.  But we agreed that the learning and experiences don’t stop!  

They are just different.  But God isn’t.  God is still there.  Still present.  Still loving.

In fact, the verse in Scripture tells us just that – “Be still, and know that I am God.”  The writer is talking about stopping and slowing and quieting ourselves and the noise around us.  And when we do that, we will see that God is still there.  Still present.  Still loving.

I hope, as you are transitioning into summer mode with less routines, like maybe one of the types of schools, you will plan to intentionally be still. To slow down.  To quiet yourself.  Give yourself permission.  Carve out time for peace and stillness.  

Because the promise is that in that stillness, you will still see God.Lord, thank you for still being there  AmenStill in One Peace,
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May 28, 2025

May 28, 2025

by | May 28, 2025 | PS from PS

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Last week, I mentioned that we are qualified!!  As baptized children of God, we are qualified to go into the world and bless the Kingdom of God with love and grace.

But let’s not skip the graduation speech!  I remember my son Drew being asked to give the graduation speech at University of Akron for his class.  A huge task for sure.  I was amazed at the profound things he shared and challenged his classmates with.  

But what if Jesus gave the speech?  

Maybe it might sound something like this?

“Little children, I’m so delighted to be here with you today. As I look out at your bright and eager faces, I am reminded of the words of the Prophet, which say, ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.’Today, you stand on the precipice of a new chapter in your lives. You have worked hard, you have studied, and you have grown. You have learned the value of knowledge, the importance of community, and the power of faith. As you go forth into the world, remember also these powerful words from the Torah: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’In your journey, you will encounter many challenges. You will face adversity, you will face doubt, and you will face fear. But remember, my dear ones, you are not alone. As the Psalmist says, ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’Congratulations, graduates. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord lift up his favor upon you and give you peace. Amen.”Cue the hats being tossed in the air!

Jesus might say these things or many more to us today as we graduate ourselves into this Wednesday.  But I think that sensing hope, activating love, seeing God’s light and sharing blessings are pretty good places for us to start today.  
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Lord, thanks for reminding us of Scripture as we graduate into today.  AmenStill in One Peace,
ps
June 18, 2025

May 21, 2025

by | May 21, 2025 | PS from PS


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You are qualified!  Congratulations!

Thousands of college students have heard or are hearing those powerful words this month.  You have been accepted.  You have done the work.  You are qualified and ready to go!

Next month, thousands of high school students will hear the same thing.  You are qualified to head off to college or vocational school or military or right into a job.  

Do you remember hearing those words?  At a graduation?  Or in your baptism?

In Acts 16, we hear of one of the many times Paul heard he was qualified: “During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.”

Essentially, God says to Paul: You have been accepted….as my prophet to the people.  You have done the work…of listening to my directions for you.  You are qualified and ready to go!  And when Paul did, amazing conversations led to a baptismal celebration for Lydia.  And then immediately, Lydia heard her qualification as a baptized child of God and began sharing hospitality.  

This story is your story as well.  

As a baptized child of God, you have been accepted!  

As a baptized child of God listening to and discerning God’s direction for your life, you have done the work.  

As a baptized child God in a world that is in dire need of more compassion, grace, hospitality, welcome, forgiveness and love, YOU ARE QUALIFIED and ready to go.

Congratulations!
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Lord, thank you for reminding me that I am qualified to share so many things with the world around me.  Amen Still in One Peace,
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June 18, 2025

May 14, 2025

by | May 15, 2025 | PS from PS

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Today we remember.  Today we respond.

We remember those that lost their lives at the hands of a racist shooter at Tops three years ago today.  They are:

Celestine Chaney,

Roberta A. Drury,

Andrew Mackneil,

Katherine Massey,

Margus D. Morrison,

Heyward Patterson,

Aaron Salter,

Geraldine Talley,

Ruth Whitfield,

Pearl Young.

Today we honor their stories, remember their families and lift them up in prayer.  At St. Paul’s, we will ring the bell in their honor at 2:30pm, the approximate time the shooting occurred.  We invite you to share in this moment with silence wherever you are.    

The event lasted for six minutes.  And in that short amount of time, it changed those families and this City forever.  

At 2:36pm this Wednesday, I invite you to end your silence.  End your inaction and inactivity.  End your lack of speaking out and not saying something that you see that doesn’t match up with the teachings and life of Jesus.   End your complacency.  End your tolerance and acceptance of hatred and racism.  End your laughing at racist comments or jokes due to peers around you.  End your nervousness due to the color of someone else’s skin without knowing the depth of the person’s heart.  End all the things that brought about that terrible six minutes.  

And instead, do something.  Do love.  Do compassion.  Do listening.  Do discussion.  Do reaching out.  Do forgiveness.  Do discomfort.  Do love.  

When we say on days like this, “never forget,” may we also say: “never again.”  And then do something to make it happen.

Lord, may we never forget.  And may we never again.  Have mercy and inspire us.  Amen

Still in One Peace,
ps