Night grows long this time of year. Back on June 21st, the summer solstice, daylight stretched more than four hours longer each day than it will through this month of December. I often wonder how people living much further from the equator than us manage through the long, dark days of winter. In Barrow, the… Read More
Posts by Matt (Page 2)
Thank God for summer. The season affords many of us the chance to temporarily step away from our ordinary routines to enter a different rhythm. For at least a week or two – and sometimes longer (as in the case of this lucky sabbatical-taking pastor) – we depart from places we call home to visit… Read More
These last two years have left many of us exhausted. The challenges posed by COVID-19 have been formidable and unrelenting. We have had to repeatedly adapt to new conditions in schools, workplaces, and community spaces. And while doing so, we have been operating in a hyper-aroused state, anxious that we or someone we love could… Read More
Over the forty days of Lent, many Christian churches refrain from saying “alleluia.” The word, along with its variant “halleluja,” is the transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “Praise Yahweh” (or simply “Praise God”). “Alleluia” and “hallelujah” imagine a worshiper erupting in joyful praise. The more penitential character of Lent can make such celebratory… Read More
As the pandemic approaches the two-year mark, many of us are feeling exhausted. What we hoped might be a brief ordeal of a few months or weeks is stretching into years. An anticipated 10k race turned into a marathon. Then as 2021 neared its end, we thought we might be glimpsing the 26-mile mark just… Read More
Online connection can be an extraordinary gift. At the last Knox missions committee meeting, we met with Rev. Cheryl Barnes while she was in Malawi and we were in California. The Zoom conversation felt miraculous. Neither a ten-hour time difference nor the Pacific Ocean prevented us from getting to know one another that night. Our… Read More
This past summer, I learned a new acronym. VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. I first heard the term at my niece Olivia’s high school graduation ceremony in June. The speaker had worked in the field of socially responsible investing and was accustomed to a close analysis of the future based on current… Read More
Starting May 9th, Knox will be opening our doors for in-person worship again. This marks the first time since March of 2020 that we will host indoor services. The pandemic forced congregations like Knox to close our sanctuary doors. We set our minds and hearts to worshiping God online. We found powerful ways to connect… Read More
There is a great awakening taking place in the church today. Christians around the world are recognizing two inter-connected truths: (1) we are in the midst of an enormous ecological crisis that calls for individual and collective action; (2) the Bible and Christian theology have a great deal to say about the value of all… Read More