First Things First

I don’t know if it happens to you, but toward the end of every year as we enter giving season, my mailbox is flooded with requests for help.  Then in wet and cold winters like this one, I become more acutely aware of how terrible it must be out in the wet and the cold […]

Ask the Pastor: Should We Fast?

In many spiritual traditions fasting is a requirement. Sometimes it is for a certain period of time, like the daylight hours of Ramadan for Muslims or before some celebrations for Earth Religions. At other times it is part of repentance when some transgression has been committed. Not eating anything as a form of protest is […]

Ask the Pastor: What is the Origin of Easter?

Searching for the historical origins of traditions can be a frustrating exercise. Too often we take the first explanation we find and assume that is the only valid explanation. Then we find another one that contradicts the first one and we begin to doubt both of them. When the origins of a tradition have religious, […]