The Rev. Carr Holland discusses the Wedding at Cana and grace (John 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11): “I had this image, how some go through life and their days, perceiving they have a pound of sugar or kindness or goodness, some but a cup, and others a teaspoon. And we deal with each other from that perception.”

On the Feast of Christ the King, the Rev. Carr Holland reflects on the complexity of truth (John 18:33-37): “In the airways these days, there are a lot of floating opinions, and they present themselves as fact or truth. But seldom are they what they pretend to be. We even create alternate facts if we don’t like the facts at hand. We consider mere opinions as if they are the sum of the truth. They simplify what is complex, and we wonder why we are not satisfied — perhaps it is because we forget to look at the relationships that we hold with others and to God as the place where truth will be revealed.”

There has always, it seems, been a custom of migration.  Moving from one place to another, many have done so in order that they might find education or find work.  Some have found a spouse along the way, perhaps.  How many of us, over 30, have never left Cary, or Wake County, or North Carolina, or the USA?  …
(Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17)

The Rev. Carr Holland meditates on the sightless crowd in Mark 10:46-52: “Part of our spiritual journey is to see, not just to project on God or each other what we desire or what we want, but to see what is compassionate and tender and patient–and on that to to act. And this is miracle, extraordinary in its ordinariness. For we pause and notice each other and act in care.”

A Jewish Sabbath prayer: “Days pass and the years vanish, and we walk sightless among miracles. Lord, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing; let there be moments when Your Presence, like lightning, illumines the darkness in which we walk. Help us to see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns unconsumed. And we, clay touched by God, will reach out for holiness, and exclaim in wonder: How filled with awe is this place, and we did not know it!” (Gates of Prayer, 1975)

The Rev. Carr Holland reflects on John 15:1-8 and his own childhood in a segregated society: “When children ask their little questions of life and share their observations of life, they are in their own way saying ‘Help me find my root. Are these things I notice good? Do they give me life? Do they come from God or from some other place?'”

At the Great Vigil of Easter, the Rev. Carr Holland: “To get Easter, to receive Easter in its depth, you have to become familiar with apparent failure.”

The Rev. Carr Holland reflects on Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-21: “This is a story of God remaining oddly, mercifully just. The Israelites sin, they are punished, they look upon the bronze snake and the cost of their sin is squarely seen. They choose hope, a will to see and change, and they are healed.”

The Rev. Carr Holland meditates on Mark 1:29-39 and prayer: “Prayer orients, reorients, orients us again, if we will but stop and yield to its pattern.”

The Rev. Carr Holland discusses Mark 1:4-11 on the first Sunday after the Epiphany: “These gentle comings of God are what we weave our life of faith on. God comes in our care, Jesus shows up in the ways we listen and hear, the hands we hold, the meals we prepare and give away…”

At the family-friendly service on Christmas Eve, the Rev. Carr Holland offers a message for children (and adults) about God’s love.