Author Archives: revaam
What Do You Treasure?
The last time I saw many of my college students in person was Ash Wednesday. During the day, the Episcopal Campus Minister, Lutheran Campus Minister, and I hosted Ashes to Go at the Free Expression Tunnel on campus. Some were thrilled to see us; others murmured that we shouldn’t be there. One refused to take […]
Let Love Lead
I spent last week as Conference Pastor for Montreat Youth Conference. For those not familiar, it’s a Presbyterian (USA) conference in the Blue Ridge Mountains for senior high teens-about 1,000 of them-and their adult leaders. I’m a product of Montreat Youth Conferences, and have had various roles as a youth planning team member, college student […]
Maundy Thursday
Lent has been my favorite liturgical season for decades, and became more and more tangible as a pediatric chaplain. I love imposing ashes on Ash Wednesday as our collective dust gathers to be reminded we are finite, and we belong to God, as we intentionally go to the wilderness for a season. Maundy Thursday is […]
Birthdays Where the Lost Things Go
It’s been six years since my mom died on my dad’s birthday and a week before mine. We celebrated her life at a memorial service worthy of her faithfulness and flair the Wednesday between our Sunday birthdays. That first birthday and one week anniversary is a blur, though amazing friends tried their best to help […]
Keep the River on your Right
One of the things I love most about traveling is going to local coffee shops, restaurants, and bars for people watching. Last week I explored a couple charming Colorado towns and met some lovely humans during my study leave. I quickly became captivated with any venue where I could work by the river, to the […]
Journeys of the Janky Van
“Travel brings power and love back into your life.” I’ve often found this to be true, yet the last seventeen days, Rumi’s words were more viscerally prevalent than ever. While it is impossible to fully express what leading a group of 21 college students on a spiritual journey through the American West entails, here is […]
Gratitude, Grief & Gumption
On November 23, 1982, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since that gut-punch Tuesday, Thanksgiving in our family has been forever different. Years like that, shock and fear greatly outweighed the size of the turkey. And years like that, we wanted to hold each other close and curl up under […]
Unplanned Community at Planned Parenthood
Yesterday I was asked how I can support Planned Parenthood as clergy. I don’t speak for all clergy, but here’s my story: After I learned of my clergy spouse’s affairs, I called my OBGYN and requested an appointment ASAP. Since we had been seeing her for infertility, she enthusiastically returned my call thinking I wanted […]
Use Your Words
To put it mildly, much of the debate last night was exhausting, embarrassing, and our people deserve better. Second to the dismissal of illegal and violating sexual assault as “locker room talk,” I found the times a former president’s character was referenced as a slight against the current presidential candidate-simply because they’re married-also offensive. I […]
The Hospitality of Peace
A homily given at Winnetka Presbyterian Church on November 22, 2015 Isaiah 11:1-5 (NRSV) The Peaceful Kingdom A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,the spirit of knowledge […]
revaam 