I’ve been asked to preach at my local parish tomorrow and so I’ve been spending a lot of time the past couple weeks in the readings for this Sunday. The text from the Hebrew Scriptures caught my eye but I unfortunately wasn’t able to fit it in to my sermon. So I thought I’d take … Continue reading A Song of the Vineyard (A Reflection on Isaiah 5.1-7)
We have a saying in English, “He can’t see the forest for the trees.” It’s a reminder not to lose sight of the big picture in the details. Details are important — after all, the devil is in the details, as they say — but they can sometimes obscure what’s really important. To avoid this … Continue reading Perspective
I have just returned from vacation on Vancouver Island, on Canada's Pacific coast. It’s a place of wonder: of majestic cedars reaching to the heavens, of fathomless waters stretching to the horizon, and of mighty mountains that remind one why the High Places have always been considered the dwelling-places of the gods. It’s fitting then … Continue reading Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence
My recent foray into Genesis has made me think again about the importance of names. Certainly in Genesis, naming has a tremendous importance and names are believed to say something important about the identity of the person or place. And so, Adam named the animals in the Garden, and the Patriarchs set aside places where … Continue reading What’s in a Name?
This week’s exploration of the kind of good fruit our lives can bear returns to the character strength of Gratitude. I say ‘returned,’ because it’s a subject that I’ve already visited a few times on the blog. Gratitude has been an important touchstone for Christian living for centuries, and has proven to be low-hanging fruit … Continue reading Gratitude
Matthew Root 