As a home hospice chaplain this past year, I have spent more time with the actively dying than in my previous 10 years in parish ministry. Accordingly, I have become much more acquainted with pages 223–245 in the Book of Common Prayer (2019). Although the BCP works as a “plug-and-play” resource, I thought a few…
Hymn Guide: Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness
We may put on this facade because of social pressure, self-deception, or a theology that forgets that Jesus himself wept, suffered, and died. Then there is also the opposite temptation, to wallow in sadness, as if our Lord did not rise again from the grave. “Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness” is a hymn that addresses these complex emotions with honesty, beauty, and authentic hope.
Why Do Anglicans Pray for the Dead?
For those new to the Anglican tradition, it may surprise you that the Book of Common Prayer, in all of its major editions, offers prayers for those who have died in the Christian faith. We don’t just pray for those who mourn but for the departed themselves. We see these prayers for the dead in…
Death, Be Not Proud: A Reading of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet X
“Death, Be not proud,” also known as Holy Sonnet X, is John Donne’s great poem in mockery of Death. Composed in 1609, the poem was published posthumously in 1633. It is fitting that Donne got the final word, laughing at Death from his grave. The power of the poem is its reversal of our experience….
Burial at Sea on the Galilee
Ashes, Ashes Tears filled Jessie’s eyes when she took my hand one evening and said, “I brought Derrick’s ashes. Could we have a service tomorrow in one of these beautiful places around the Sea of Galilee?” I knew her well. She was with her son on our trip to the Holy Land, which her husband…
The Good Grief of Advent: Living in the Longing
For some, happiness is very elusive this time of year. Therefore, it’s appropriate that Advent is here to give voice to our melancholy.
The Liturgy Will Pray for You: A Journey Through Grief with the Book of Common Prayer
I did not become a Christian in a liturgical tradition, but I was introduced to liturgical prayer and worship very early in my walk. I found liturgy especially helpful in giving me words and phrases to cling to when my own prayers felt “stuck.” Now, after 21 years as a Christian, having shifted into the…
Grief in the Psalms
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Psalm 13:1 Psalm 13 captures the heavy heart of Lent in this somber passage. Alone with his grief, the Psalmist cries out for God to see him. Similarly, Psalm 22 begins, “My God, My God, why have…
I Don’t Want a Celebration of Life, I Want a Burial Service
When I die, please don’t call my burial service a Celebration of Life. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that people will want to celebrate my life. I don’t want this to replace my Christian burial. No, bury me according to the rites of a Christian. I want to be one more brother in Christ,…
Beautiful and Terrible Things: Pain and Suffering in the Life of a Disciple
Pain, suffering, and disappointment are not often explored even lightly in the American church. In a previous article I began to explore practical care and understanding, but, like a diamond, this topic is worth a second or third look. When others are suffering, we feel awkward and insufficient, so we uncomfortably acknowledge it when we…
Thank you Bishop, and Good-bye
Ten years ago Fran and I flew to Orlando to say some words to my former bishop, Donis Patterson. We had not been friends, but when I had heard that his health was failing I felt we had to go to see him. To thank him. In 1985 he appointed me as ‘Missioner’ of the diocese and sent me…
