John 11:32-44 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. […]
Category: Loss
A Letter to My Friends in Times of Loss
My dear friends, I’m writing you this because many of you are grieving. Lost parents, lovers, friends, mentors, children, homelands, senses of self and assumed safety. You have lost, and now you are feeling some sort of response to that loss. This is my love letter to you. This is my way of saying I […]
What Support Looks Like
People want to be helpful. We especially want to help our friends. Their distress calls to us and we want to be there to do all that we can to help. Few of us, though, understand what that looks like. We throw out statements like, “If you need anything, let me know” and “I’m here […]
A Sermon: With You in the Dark
This is the sermon I gave at First Church Cambridge on January 4th, 2015. I will give this a trigger warning for talk of suicide and depression. Please read with care: Verve Coffee Roasters sits on the corner that separates the two streets with the heaviest foot traffic in Santa Cruz, CA. I began writing […]
Naked and Not Ashamed: Lessons in Vulnerability From Adam and Eve
Each death brings up the last one and the one before. When it happens, I have to let the names reverberate in my soul like residual sound waves from the repeated crashing of cymbals. I can brace myself, but each vibration is stronger than the last, emanating from my chest until I’m on my back. […]