Category: Sonoma County
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Not Exploited, But Emptied
Today I woke up thinking, “Who really knows how to do Palm Sunday?” After my mind ran through various possibilities, I ended up worshiping with the Episcopalians. When I arrived, an usher standing at the door of the sanctuary handed me a thick pile of paper and directed me to the courtyard. People smiled politely…
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Close Proximity
As a pastor on sabbatical, one of my practices has been to visit churches and other spiritual communities. This week I decided to look and see what were the closest churches to my home in Santa Rosa. One of them is a non-denominational Evangelical church and I rode my bike there for the 10:00 a.m.…
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Very Giant Rock
One of my sabbatical goals has been to find a new Sonoma County hike each week. So far so good. I told Carla, my massage therapist, about this goal and she said she knew of a hike in the coastal mountains that only locals could find. She said she’d write down the directions, which she…
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Afraid of Ghosts
I once spent the night alone in a cabinSweet solitudeNo reason to be afraidThe wind softly scraped the branches against the decaying shinglesThe rafters and the floor boards crackled in concertThe bunk bed springs creaked even as I lay perfectly still In the pitch black I could hear scurrying and perhaps heavier footstepsI forced myself…
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Sex Outside My Door
I walked out my front door yesterdayAnd the scent of sex clapped me full in the faceI looked around to spy the sourceHalf-expecting a cassanova crouching in the bushesAll I found was a shrubCovered with pink coquettes‘Looking for a good time?’ it asked me‘Uh, maybe,’ I said‘Well buzz on over here and give us some…
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Death and Life
On several of the hikes I’ve been taking lately, I walk through burn zones of recent fires. This time of year, the golden state is a spring green state. Everything looks fresh. Except for the trees. Wildfires have swept through these open spaces in Sonoma County in the last few years. I hiked in Foothill…
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While Still So Much of the World Works
While still so much of the world works,While Piner Creek still giggles as it flows,While the coastal oak guards its leaves and the valley oak gives them away,While the hooded merganser and her mate return to this brook bend again this year,Let us not fail to love that which asks nothing from us but close…
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Gettin’ Jiggy with the UU’s
One of my sabbatical practices is to attend a new worshiping or practicing community each week. Today I visited the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Rosa, or UCCSR. The church meets in a former movie theater and it is a gorgeous and comfortable space. This was their first Sunday back in person after many weeks…
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To Fall Like It Fell
I want to be like this treeThis live oak here in this canyonI want to fall like it fellTo be caught by the same soft ground Toppled, it sees the world anew, from belowIt has new friends with new needsA lizard seeking refugeA pill bug licking its pill bug lipsWaiting for the tree to die…
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Redwoods of Lebanon
A few years ago, I preached a sermon on the Cedars of Lebanon, the famed trees of the Bible that stood for strength and endurance and beauty and steadfastness. It was a sermon on the climate crisis and I asked the congregation to consider our own coastal redwoods. They really are most incredible. I remember…
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