Milk Stamp Love

This post is a few months old. But today (July 23) a friend had an interesting encounter at the Post Office in Meridian, Idaho. Here was there interaction, as she reported it on Facebook: Could I please get some stamps? “Yes, which ones would you like?” Do you have any Harvey Milk stamps? “Yes, but…

GA: Civil and Religious Marriage

This is another post about the upcoming General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA. There is an overture headed to General Assembly’s Civil Unions and Marriage Committee that would seek to pull clergy out of civil marriage altogether. I am sympathetic to Lehigh Presbytery’s intention. I stopped signing state marriage licenses a few years ago.…

Justice Rolling Down

I’m far from home tonight. Sitting on my hotel balcony, overlooking the Ohio River in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. I’m far from home when startling news has been announced. In a 57 page decision, US Magistrate Judge Candy Dale determined Idaho’s Constitutional ban against same gender marriage is unconstitutional. “… Idaho’s Marriage Laws withhold from them…

Mother’s Day Prayer

God, you are the God of all of the moments of our lives—our celebrations and our mournings. Today we come to you with both. We thank you this day for mothers; for the gift of our lives made possible in the fullness of time through their labor, pain, and joy. For everyone who modeled for…

“He could do nothing”

Last night in worship, we read through Matthew’s account of the Last Supper, Betrayal, Arrest, Trial, and Crucifixion of Jesus. Matthew’s description (in chapter 27) of Pilate’s response to Jesus stayed with me: So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed…

Reflection from Auschwitz

I’ll be speaking more about this on Sunday in worship, but wanted to share the video a friend took while we were touring the Birkenau Concentration Camp. It was one of those moments where I was thankful to be at the right place at the right time. If anyone knows what they are singing, I…

The “costs” of Discrimination

One of our news channels today aired this story about the cost of the Add the Words demonstrations at the Idaho Capitol this session. http://www.ktvb.com/news/capitol-watch/Police-protesters-talk-about-the-cost-of-Add-the-4-Words-protests-248917111.html And the dollars are real. Apparently it has cost the state $19,000 dollars to arrest over 100 unarmed and non-violent citizens who were standing at the capitol hoping their elected…