Have Faith: Darkness and light
It's not always easy to have faith. Sometimes we get a taste of what St. John of the Cross called “the dark night of the soul.” No matter how hard we pray, it all...
Have Faith: A new spiritual leader
I first met Rabbi Giulia Fleishman years ago when I was working at the West Tisbury library. She exudes the word “kindness” from the moment you meet her. Giulia is still involved with the...
Have Faith: Grieving
We've been joking around the office about how rough July was — some of us struggled through COVID, those who hadn't gotten it previously finally falling into various degrees of illness. I don't want...
Have Faith: What can we do?
Between reading Catherine Walthers' Edible Vineyard story on World Central Kitchen (bit.ly/evworldkitchen) and George Brennan's story on “Covering the Russian Invasion of Ukraine” at last weekend's Islanders Write (bit.ly/mvtlongwar), I'm convinced I don't know...
Have Faith: Visiting preachers
One of my favorite aspects of summer on the Island is all of the visiting guest preachers who come to the Tabernacle and to Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. I’ve heard some amazing and...
Have Faith: Flags and faith
I was all set to write a column about spiritual reading, and then yesterday someone from the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury reached out to tell me that their Pride flag that hung...
Have Faith: Special visitor
There's a special event coming up at the Community Baptist Church of Gay Head in Aquinnah. Pastor Sean McMahon tells me that the Rev. Gerry Locklear, a member of the Lumbee Tribe in North...
Have Faith: Dark to light
It’s early morning, and I’m sitting in the dark in a hotel room on Palm Sunday in Kingston, N.Y., where my son Dan and I are visiting relatives for a few days. There was...
Have Faith: Lent has arrived
Well, it's Lent, and not only did I not get ashes on Ash Wednesday, but I also forgot to go to Eucharistic Adoration last Friday. I think of these things, telling myself throughout the...
Have Faith: Small but mighty
Well, I drove up to Aquinnah for church last Sunday. I made it to the 10 am service before it got underway and was greeted warmly, as always, by the small-but-mighty congregation there. I...
Have Faith: What’s app?
I had a couple of good ideas for the column this week, but wouldn’t you know it, they both fell through. Best-laid plans. This led me to ramble through the internet searching for what...
Have Faith: Traditions
I always love it when I hear from readers. Always, even when they point out mistakes. Because they should point them out, and because it means they're reading, which is every writer's dream. After...
Have Faith: Feast of the Epiphany
When I was a kid, my grandmother didn't take her Christmas tree down until the Feast of the Epiphany on Thursday, Jan. 6. I remember mimicking her tradition in my own adult life, and...
Have Faith: Hocus-pocus or faith?
I've been thinking a lot about Mary lately, as in the mother of Jesus. Maybe because Christmas is looming. Over the years I've heard things like “Other Christian traditions don't hold Mary in as...
Have Faith: Knocking on the door
As I'm writing this, I’m thinking about Nancy Slonim Aronie's column, “Writing from the Heart,” which you'll find in this week's edition of The Times. She writes about jumping to conclusions and passing judgment....
Have Faith: Born again
Sometimes I get caught up in phrases or terms that we see used in Christianity. This weekend I had a little hang-up about being “born again.” There are differing opinions on Jesus' conversation with...
Have Faith: An unflappable leader
A lot of folks know Peter Boak as the fearless leader of the Island Community Chorus, but he's also been music minister at the Federated Church in Edgartown for 25 years. The church will...
Have Faith: Walking to end hunger
It's CROP Walk time again, folks, and we even have a closing ceremony this year. Join everyone on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 17, at 2:30 pm at St. Augustine's Church in the parish parking lot....
Have Faith: Music moves us
I made my first trip to the First Baptist Church in Vineyard Haven last Friday night to listen to some Christian music. What a beautiful building. The wooden beams were amazing and the acoustics...
Have Faith: Meet the Rev. Dr. Robert Hardies
My fascination with the Unitarian Universalist Society is based half on its New England history and the other half on a film I watched on Netflix years ago, “Raw Faith.” Progressive Unitarian minister Marilyn...