Winn Collier's Blog, page 4
February 17, 2021
Ashes for the World
Since Lent 2020 seems to have never ended but simply lumbered on, carrying our now raw and limping carcasses behind, it’s difficult to consider how we should renew the experience. Once again we’ve arrived at the gateway to the weeks of bright sadness–but do we want to enter? Did we ever exit? Each of us …
Continue reading "Ashes for the World"
The post Ashes for the World appeared first on winncollier.com.
February 4, 2021
Holy
I told a couple friends recently how essential I think it is for us to recover the word “holy” and the notion of “holiness.” For years (the reasons why are another story), these words made me grimace. And it’s not lost on me that sometimes the people who use this language the most seem to …
The post Holy appeared first on winncollier.com.
January 12, 2021
God, Forgive Us
As a dad who’s tried to raise two sons amid all kinds of treacheries in this seductive age, as a pastor who’s sat with countless wounded, angry souls walking away from their faith (or wondering if it’s ever possible to walk back again), I will tell you this: no atheistic argument has ever dismantled a …
Continue reading "God, Forgive Us"
The post God, Forgive Us appeared first on winncollier.com.
January 6, 2021
Our Epiphany
Christmas’ twelfth night concluded, we arrive with those pilgrim kings at the Feast of Epiphany. Who among us does not need a revealing, a bolt of clarity that cuts through the dark night, a burning love that ravages our heart? Who among us, like those three wandering souls, have not pinned our hope on a …
Continue reading "Our Epiphany"
The post Our Epiphany appeared first on winncollier.com.
December 26, 2020
Lean if You Need to
Merry 2nd day of Christmas. Perhaps, like the star atop our tree, you’re knocked sideways, holding tight but barely. I love our tree, the little fire stove pumping heat next to it, looking out over the quiet carpet of white stretching under the pines behind our house. But this tree’s a quirkster. We cut it …
Continue reading "Lean if You Need to"
The post Lean if You Need to appeared first on winncollier.com.
November 29, 2020
The Problem with Advent
The problem with Advent is that it comes around every single year. Again. And again. And again. As best we can tell, Christians have kept some version of preparation for Christ’s appearing among us, days of repentance and longing and holy stillness, since the late 400’s. Generation after generation–names and stories mostly forgotten–have fasted and …
Continue reading "The Problem with Advent"
The post The Problem with Advent appeared first on winncollier.com.
November 26, 2020
An Echo of Thanks
Giving thanks for so many expressions of goodness and love.
The post An Echo of Thanks appeared first on winncollier.com.
October 27, 2020
A Burning in My Bones: Preview
Friends, you’ll find 3.5 years of sweat, joy, self-doubt, tears, befuddlement, worry, delight, and prayer on these pages. Most every day, I was in way over my head. The closing sentences felt like an amen. I’m happy to pass along a first peek of the biography. The release date is March 23rd, but you can …
Continue reading "A Burning in My Bones: Preview"
The post A Burning in My Bones: Preview appeared first on winncollier.com.
July 27, 2020
One More Blessing for All Souls
For twelve years (almost to the day), it has been my joy to be the pastor of All Souls Charlottesville, this vibrant, joyful, quirky, serious (sometimes too serious), playful, artful, generous, Jesus-loving church. When folks who should have known better asked Miska and me to move to Charlottesville to help form a new church with …
Continue reading "One More Blessing for All Souls"
The post One More Blessing for All Souls appeared first on winncollier.com.
June 4, 2020
Lauds
3:27 a.m. I’m awake in the wee hours of the night. The house is dark. I walk gently so that the creak of these old floors won’t rouse those I love. I step onto our back porch and gaze at the starlit sky, breathing clean air. For weeks, this weeping world has writhed and groaned …
The post Lauds appeared first on winncollier.com.
