Nancy Springer

On the Second Day of Christmas

On the second day of Christmas, Yahweh gave to us: Redemption. On the second day of Christmas, Yahweh gave to us redemption. It’s a fancy theology word we toss around in church circles but do we ever stop to consider what it actually means that God “redeems” us. Outside of theology circles, I bet mostContinue reading “On the Second Day of Christmas”

On the First Day of Christmas …

On the First Day of Christmas, Yahweh gave to us: Presence On the first day of Christmas, Yahweh gave to us: Presence. Not P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S but Emmanuel, God with us, divinely present with our humanness. This is the very thing that we celebrate at Christmas – God coming to us as the baby Jesus. Stop andContinue reading “On the First Day of Christmas …”

Love Sings

The theme for the fourth week of Advent is Love. John Lennon sang, “all you need is love.” Bing Crosby sang, “Love makes the world go ‘round.” (Don’t be judging my music choices.) Jesus tells us, “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. This is the most important, theContinue reading “Love Sings”

Making Plans

Sunday, December 20, 2020Fourth Sunday of Advent 2 Samuel 11:1-7, 16Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26Romans 16:25-27Luke 1:26-38 It’s almost Christmas! Are you ready? Is your tree up? Gifts purchased and wrapped? Menus organized? Are you ready to encounter God in all of it? I know I’m not the first to say it and I’m sorry for theContinue reading “Making Plans”

Joy and Pancakes

The theme for this third week of Advent is Joy and I have to admit that I’m really, really, struggling to lean into the joy of the Good News. I know, I know, I’m a priest, I shouldn’t admit such things. I’m supposed to be a spiritual role model. But it’s true: this has beenContinue reading “Joy and Pancakes”

Knowing Ourselves

Sunday, December 13, 2020Third Sunday of AdventIsaiah 61:1-4, 8-11Psalm 1261 Thessalonians 5:16-24John 1:6-8, 19-28http://lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Advent/BAdv3_RCL.html As we continue our journey through Advent, we spend another Sunday with John the Baptizer preparing ourselves to recognize Jesus when he comes to us. John wants to make sure we don’t miss this awesome event of God coming to beContinue reading “Knowing Ourselves”

Peace

If you’ve ever attended an Episcopal worship service, you will have witnessed what we call “Passing the Peace,” a part of the service when we move from hearing and reflecting on God’s word to gathering at God’s table to give thanks and receive the gift of Holy Communion. In some churches, folks stand in theirContinue reading “Peace”

Not to be Difficult, but …

Sunday, December 6, 2020Isaiah 40:1-11Psalm 85:1-2, 8-132 Peter 3:8-15Mark 1:1-8http://lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Advent/BAdv2_RCL.html How’s your Advent journey going? What surprises has God revealed to you about how divine love comes into this world? How is your view of ‘normal’ being interrupted? In today’s Gospel reading, we jump back to the beginning of Mark’s version of the story andContinue reading “Not to be Difficult, but …”

Scrabble Theology

I love to play Scrabble. There’s just something exciting to me about the possibility of the words to be found, the anticipation as I watch what my companion spells out and discovering how I can build on that, and the revealing of the layout of all the words in an interconnected pattern created by ourContinue reading “Scrabble Theology”

Living in Anticipation

Sunday, November 29, 2020The first Sunday of AdventIsaiah 64:1-9Psalm 80:1-7, 16-181 Corinthians 1:3-9Mark 13:24-37 In the Episcopal Church, we follow a church calendar that begins each new year not on January 1 but four Sundays before Christmas Day (the date can be from November 27 to December 3, depending on which day of the weekContinue reading “Living in Anticipation”