Rev. Zach

Genesis 45:3-11, 15      1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50      Luke 6:27-38 Well, here we are, once again, in the season of weird stuff and shiny things! Of course many will tell you that it started on January 5th with the 12th Night of Christmas. In days of old that marked the end of the 12 Days of Christmas and the coming of Epiphany. Most of us know it locally as King Cake Season. Seriously, this is a weird time of year. We’ve already dealt with controversies over who makes the best King Cake and why naked cake babies were banned from Facebook. The parades have begun, and we know that for some people it’s just an excuse for excess. All things said and done, it’s just a fun time to be around, but it does get a little weird. Although, I guess if you're used to it, the weirdness is more of a balance between personal expression and testing the boundaries of what we believe to be acceptable. Sometimes those boundaries get broken. Sometim...

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33      Ephesians 4:25-5:2      John 6:35, 41-51 A few weeks ago I began a four-part series on gratitude based on reflections on the lectionary in conversation with the book, Gratitude – The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks , by Diana Butler Bass. You may or may not remember that I’m calling this series “Gratefully Alive,” and yes, the pun is intended . It may or may not have been a good idea to interrupt that series with a guest preacher last week, but I think we all enjoyed learning more about our Living Waters project in Cuba. Since our readings repeatedly remind us that Jesus is the bread of life this month, it certainly didn’t hurt to hear that he is the living water for the world – then and now. In case you are like me and you find that a few nights’ sleep may challenge your immediate recall of the past, I’ll remind you where we left off. We started out talking about the connection between grace a...

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33     Psalm 130:1-8     Ephesians 4:25-5:2     John 6:35, 41-51 Our scripture passages speak to us today of things that are both terrible and wonderful.  They speak to us of consequences that are immediate and eternal.  And they remind me of a time when I had the opportunity to sit before a judge who was dispensing wisdom and mercy. On this particular occasion, my dear wife had been in a fender bender that was the result of a momentary misunderstanding of the actions of the driver in front of her and a confusing traffic pattern.  On advice from others, she decided to go to court and plead “no contest,” as this was a minor offense on an otherwise spotless driving record.  I came with her – expecting to do some work while we waited – and found the bailiff to be quite clear in the expectation that my open note pad was not welcome.  Instead, I enjoyed one of the most interesting days of listening to...

First Presbyterian Church - Lafayette, Louisiana July 10, 2011 - Ordinary (15A) Genesis 25:19-34 Romans 7:13-25 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Many of you know that I spent some time with my grandmother last weekend as she was, and still is, in hospice care. It was a holy time that I will cherish. During that time I experienced things that I knew to be possible and a few that I never expected to happen. Nothing particularly miraculous happened - unless you consider the miraculous quality of every moment of life. By that I mean the fact that we live and move and exist on this tiny spec of dust called earth that hangs in the vast expanse of the universe. It is a miracle to me that we are breathing, that actions taking place on a subatomic level all around us allow us to blissfully choose to be kind or rude, generous or selfish, grateful or unappreciative. We can even be all of these at once depending on the person or the situation. Tens of thousands of variables effect our deci...