All Past Reflections

Fiftheenth Sunday after Pentecost "Getting Along" — Reflection by Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Romans 12:9-21/NRSVUE) Gospel Reading (Matthew 18:15-20/NRSVUE) You know it’s going to be an interesting day when you find out who your new boss is going to be from a...

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost "Follow Me" — Reflection by Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Romans 12:9-21/NRSVUE) Gospel Reading (Matthew 16:21-28/NRSVUE) We’ve shared a home with our dog Olive for a little more than decade now. She’s a complicated blessing (as a...

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost "Like a Rock" — Reflection by Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Romans 12:1-8/NRSVUE) Gospel Reading (Matthew 16:13-20/NRSVUE) In New Jersey, where I grew up, you could get your learner’s permit at the age of sixteen once you’d passed...

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost "The Moved Mover" — Reflection by Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Isaiah 56:1,6-9/NRSVUE) Gospel Reading (Matthew 15:21-28/NRSVUE) One of the things I miss about living back East is easy access to Dunkin Donuts. I know there’s a few in...

Rev. Brent Gundlah It’s a blessing to be here with you today, outside the four walls of our usual gathering space. It’s good to get out of our comfort zone every once in a while, to experience things from a different perspective. It is in this same spirit that I chose...

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost"The Kingdom of Heaven" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (First Kings 3:5-12/NRSVUE)Gospel Reading (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52/NRSVUE) I’ve always enjoyed being outside and working in the yard during the long days of summer, when...

Eight Sunday after Pentecost"Wheat and Weeds" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Genesis 28:10-19a/NRSVUE)Gospel Reading (Matthew 13:24-30,36-43/NRSVUE) About twenty years ago, the company I worked for was going through what a disinterested observer might call...

I enjoy having plants around the house and out in the garden, I think it’s fun to tend to them, but I can’t honestly say that I understand them. A few years ago I decided to try growing orchids. I had four of them — all of the same variety, purchased at the same store...