Rev. Zach

           “I’ve always survived on the kindness of strangers.” These are the famous last words of Blanche Dubois in Tennessee William’s play, A Streetcar Named Desire. They are the words of a woman driven mad by loss and abuse, a woman whose self-constructed, the ideal world has finally caught up to her. They are the words of a woman whom we want to blame for her choices, and yet at the same time we cannot help but see her as a victim. For her, the kindness of strangers is not about relationships and well-being. It is about escapism from the constant ache of a love that she lost through her own cruelty. Yet that idea, the kindness of strangers, seems to be the hope that Jesus sends his disciples toward in our passage today. He sends them out with the clothes on their backs to neighboring towns to tell people about him and his love for them. I have to say, that sounds like the worst gig ever. Can you imagine it? Of course, there are those that ...

2 Corinthians 12:2-10      Mark 6:1-13 The last few weeks in the US have been charged with political energy and excited by social change.  News outlets and social media have exploded with those expressing a resistance to change, and with those who plan to make even greater changes.  It seems to me that flags are more central to these expressions than usual.  Flags of differing stripes have been waived, burned, and even used to advocate competing agendas.  Yet above it all there is a flag for our nation.  No matter what you call it, no matter what you do to it, our Nation’s flag still symbolizes the values that many in this room and many of our loved ones have fought and died for.  I’m sure you know about the significance of the stars and bars, but have you ever wondered why the colors red, white, and blue were chosen?  When Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, explained the significance of the colors in the Gr...