Dear Westwood Community, I confess that, among a variety of emotions, I've been resentful lately: I am tired at having to explain what I believe about God in reaction to some really bad ideas, offered by powerful voices. It's not new: I've long been frustrated at the...
Dear Westwood Community, It's been just over a month since devastating wildfires ignited here in LA County. So much has changed in that time. My prayers continue to be with those whose lives and families are forever reshaped by this disaster--especially those who have lost homes,...
Dear Westwood Community, Last week, I had the privilege of participating in a meeting of leaders in the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church in the US. At one point in the long meeting, when everyone’s energy was waning, we decided to sing. Someone on...
Dear Westwood Community, Last Sunday in Grapple, we watched the widely circulated video of Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde speaking directly to President Trump at the National Cathedral’s Inaugural Prayer Service, held on the Tuesday after last week’s inauguration. For any of you who have not seen it,...
Dear Westwood Community, In the last book published before his murder, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asks a question that our country still wrestles with today, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” Today, January 20, 2025, will be remembered as a day...
Dear Westwood Community, This week has been a lot--for all of us. Especially for those who have lost so much: workplaces, homes, even loved ones. My heart breaks for all that has been changed by the wildfires that are not yet contained here in Los Angeles...
Dear Westwood Community, Like you, I have been on edge for the past day, watching and praying as wildfires move through our community. While the church is at present safely away from the fires, members of our congregation have evacuated--some anxiously awaiting word about whether their homes still...
Dear Westwood Community, This new year's eve, I am sitting with words from Cole Arthur Riley, shared as a prayer invitation on her Black Liturgies Instagram feed: Hope is not tethered to remembrance. We don't move forward by forgetting. Hold space for every joy and every sorrow of the year. We...
Merry Christmas! I hope that your Christmas celebration has been good already, and these next days will be full of tender joy as we mark the precious gifts of this season. I wanted to share two little gifts with you today: First, a video we made at...
Dear Westwood Community, Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. Christ’s birth brings new ways of living and loving into our world of uncertainties and injustice. In many ways, pregnant Mary was surrounded by endings—large and small, personal and political. But Mary proclaimed hope in...