Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 A teacher once told me that until you can explain something to a child, you don’t really understand it. CS Lewis, another great teacher, believed most ardently that good children’s stories were only good if they could mean just as much to the adults reading them as the child being read to.Continue reading “Will We Join the Party?”
Author Archives: amcaudill27
Our Mother Hen
Luke 13:31-35 When I was in second and third grade, I had the kind of teacher that you never forget. Her name was Mrs. Meadows, and she was known by the entire school as the teacher with all the animals. The class pet was not a rarity in the early 2000s, although I think withContinue reading “Our Mother Hen”
Temptation at Lunchtime
Luke 4:1-13 In C. S. Lewis’s book The Screwtape Letters, Lewis imagines what the correspondence between two demons might look like. They discuss humanity with contempt, all the while obsessing over the actions, choices, and beliefs of the individual humans they are charged with leading away from God, or as they call him, the Enemy.Continue reading “Temptation at Lunchtime”
Memento Mori
This sermon was given on the occasion of Ash Wednesday 2025, and primarily addresses the liturgy of the day as well as several references to the Burial Office, both of which can be found in the Book of Common Prayer! The t-shirt mentioned is a discontinued product of The Little Rose Shop, but a similarContinue reading “Memento Mori”
For Love’s Sake
Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a] For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved one particular prayer in the prayerbook more than any other. It is found in the Compline liturgy, prayers for the close of the day, which was prayed before bedtime every night at my summer camp growing up and at the end of everyContinue reading “For Love’s Sake”
Staying Soft-hearted
Genesis 45:3-11, 15 & Luke 6:27-38 Some authors claim that the teaching to love our enemies is the only entirely original and unique teaching of Jesus. These scholars point out that nearly everything else Jesus teaches can be found in the writings of the Old Testament, and much of the same teachings can be foundContinue reading “Staying Soft-hearted”
The Trust of (Angel) Trees
Jeremiah 17:5-10 Tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of my ordination as a deacon in the Church, and as I’ve been reflecting on the past 6 years something has struck me. I have served nearly my entire ordained ministry in “unprecedented times.” Plague, violence around the world, multiple contentious election cycles, an awakening to a newContinue reading “The Trust of (Angel) Trees”
Show Up
Luke 2:22-40 Today, the 40th day after surviving childbirth, Mary brings her infant firstborn to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and make an offering in thanksgiving for his birth and Mary’s safe delivery. Mary and Joseph are new, still figuring out the parenting thing and the marriage thing, but this is one thingContinue reading “Show Up”
It All Matters to God
Luke 2:41-52 I’ve always loved this story from Luke. This episode in Jerusalem is the only glimpse we get into what an adventure it must have been to raise God’s son. I’ve never been one for the poetic and artistic depictions of Jesus as a child who never cried, who was quiet and obedient andContinue reading “It All Matters to God”
Joseph’s Chosen Family
Luke 2:(1-7) 8-20 This morning, I’m thinking about Joseph. In a great reversal of the Biblical norm, Joseph is seen and not heard while his wife Mary gets all the great lines. Joseph does not speak a single line of dialogue in scripture. All we know about him from the Biblical witness is that heContinue reading “Joseph’s Chosen Family”
Mother A Writes 