St. Ed Said

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Lessons and Psalm Judges 7:1-8a Psalm 119:81-88 Romans 6:3-11 Matthew 13:47-52 The Collect Embolden our lives, O Lord, and inspire our faiths, that we, following the example of your servant Dietrich Bonhoeffer, might embrace your call with undivided hearts; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. From Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2024 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), on February 4, 1906. He studied theology at the universities of Berlin and Tübingen, and his doctoral thesis was published in 1930 as Communio Sanctorum.  Still canonically too young to be ordained at the age of 24, he undertook postdoctoral study and teaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. From the first days of the Nazi accession to power in 1933, Bonhoeffer was involved in protests against the regime. From 1933 to 1935 he was the pastor of two small congregations in Lon...

The Rev. Aron Kramer Easter Sunday April 5, 2026 The Angel said to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, “He is not here. He has been raised.” And then, almost as an afterthought, almost too simple after everything that has just happened, an earthquake, angels, tomb stones being rolled away, the angel gives the women their instructions: Go quickly, and tell his disciples. He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him. This year Holy Week has been filled with epiphanies, like the seismic language found only three times in Matthew. Like when Chip mentioned something spectacularly new and fresh to my ears and mind in his sermon on Maundy Thursday, Jesus must have washed Judas’ feet knowing that Judas was the one who would betray him. The other epiphany, almost as if I have never read the Gospel of Matthew before, is this idea of heading home to Galilee. Not Jerusalem. Not the Temple. Not any seat of power, not even towards the center of history, the place where the week's e...

Most years, I come to Good Friday having spent hours with different texts, having planned out services with Tami and Chip. We sit with our options, with the days of the Triduum, we turn it over and over, and look for a theme to push. This year has been different. The projects have piled up. My health has asked things of me I wasn't expecting, we’ve spent more time in the Urgency or Emergency Room than last year combined, I think. And if I'm honest, some of the things I was most looking forward to this Lenten season, our Labyrinth Stations of the Cross, Fish Fries at the Legion, didn't land the way I had hoped. I have been busy in a way that has left me less able to think, imagine and plan, less able to sit with things, less able to find the quiet I rely on. I tell you this not because my schedule is interesting, or for you to feel sorry for me, but because I suspect I am not alone in that experience. These last three months have been exhausting in ways that are hard to full...

Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, I attended the Palm Sunday, Faith In Action event. It was a lot of fun, and quite profound. There are some pictures below you can take a look at. The Episcopalians showed up, that is for sure, everywhere I turned I saw someone from Trinity, St Mark's Cathedral, St John's, from all over the metro area. Our Bishop was one of the last speakers, and his voice was particularly unique. Several speakers preached the days sermon, or a portion of it, others repeated the lines we have all heard over and over again about the injustices being pressed upon so many of our immigrant neighbors. Bishop Loya, however, talked about our first Bishop: Henry Benjamin Whipple, and how his name is on the building where most immigrants and other US Citizens were arrested were taken. It reminded me of that saying I have heard so much in our Diocese, "While others were killing the Indigenous people, Bishop Whipple was ordaining them." I stumbled across Seth Godin again...

FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE Lessons and Psalm Numbers 21:4-9 Psalm 145 Acts 2:42-47 John 18:33-37 The Collect Almighty God, who has restored our human nature to heavenly glory through the perfect obedience of our Savior Jesus Christ: Enliven in your Church, we pray, the passion for justice and truth, that, like your servant Frederick Denison Maurice, we may work and pray for the triumph of the kingdom of Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. From Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2024 In the same year that Karl Marx declared religion to be the “opiate of the people,” Frederick Denison Maurice wrote, “We have been dosing our people with religion when what they want is not this but the living God.” Like Marx, Maurice wanted to solve the questions of our complex society; unlike Marx, he called for a radical, but non-violent, reform, by the renewal of “faith in a God who has redeemed mankind, in whom I may vindicate my rights as a man.”  Mauric...

Many of us have experienced talking to a friend about a restaurant or type of car and then later see those very things show up on our social media feeds. Someone or something is always listening. Artificial Intelligence collects our personal data from our online activities, social media interactions and our user preferences. AI then analyzes this data and identifies patterns in our consumer behavior. This information is used by companies to create targeted advertisements that resonate specifically to us. In some ways it is good, I guess. I only see what I like, what I mention and what I linger over on FaceBook. Everyone else is only seeing what they are interested in too. We each have tailor-made marketing. You see Nike and I see Birkenstocks. I see ads for gray-covering hair dye and my husband sees videos for metal detectors and gold panning equipment. It is a bit creepy, but I don’t pan for gold, so I am glad I don’t get those commercials. (The fact our personal data is up for sale i...