A reflection by Danny Nelson Schweers for May 5, 2024. I love the poetic language of Psalm 98 — let the rivers clap their hands and the mountains will sing together for joy. Here is an image of a planet so full of praise and thanksgiving that rivers have hands to clap and mountains have voices […]
Reflections by Danny Nelson Schweers
Reflections written by Danny Nelson Schweers for the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew, downtown Wilmington, Delaware.
Beyond Justice
A reflection by Danny Nelson Schweers for April 14, 2024. Few people find joy in Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). On the surface, the parable is about punishment for those who do not care for the poor and suffering, for those who do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. […]
A New Creation
A reflection by Danny Nelson Schweers for March 24, 2024. For the first time in days, I experienced a moment of joy this morning looking east at the new day dawning. For days, I have been sick with a bad cold, or the flu, or some other head/chest grunge. I sleep. I watch TV. I […]
Passionate but Reasonable: Israel and Palestine
A reflection by Danny Nelson Schweers for March 3, 2024. The 130 people in my church’s auditorium on Friday evening, February 23, 2024 were not there to eat pancakes, chicken, and king cake. We had done that ten days earlier, on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent began. That was an evening of celebration and […]
Finding Redemption
A reflection by Danny Nelson Schweers for February 11, 2024. Eventually, God gets the blame. Once you start wondering why things go wrong, sooner or later you will ask why omnipotent God makes terrible things happen. “Why, God? Why?” is a question cried in anguish but also a question asked calmly, soberly. An answer I […]
The Same From Age to Age
ABOVE: July 2017 composite photo of the 8:00 and 10:30am worshipers. Click on the image to see it larger in a new tab. A reflection by Danny N. Schweers for January 21, 2024. Who are we? Recently, I have found myself wondering that about my church. One seemingly simple answer is that the church is […]
What Will 2024 Bring Our Way?
2024 is nearly here. What shall we worry about? Although Jesus told his followers not to worry, I do. You? Existential dread is not nearly as popular as it once was. Personal concerns — such as being loved and accepted, having food and shelter, keeping our health — these continue to be among the best-selling […]
Offspring of Inspiration
A reflection by Danny Schweers for December 10, 2023. In my wife’s studio, geometry and color catch my eye. A glance is all it takes. Out comes my camera. As usual, the finished photo barely resembles the brief vision that inspired it. As philosophers have long observed, images cannot capture reality any more than words […]
Connected To Jesus
A reflection by Danny Schweers for November 19, 2023. One way to connect to Jesus is to visit the Holy Land, to walk where He walked, to feel the water of the Jordan river against your skin, perhaps to drink the same water He drank from the Samaritan woman’s well, or to breathe the same […]
God Our Gardener
A reflection by Danny Schweers for October 29, 2023. The more I garden, the more I learn to be gardened. Imagination is needed. I do not claim to be a good gardener. Mostly I just cut and trim, trying to keep the plants in the yard under control. I wield clippers and loppers, mower and […]
Three Downtown Encounters
A reflection by Danny Schweers for October 8, 2023. As I exit Starbucks, mocha latte in hand, my attention goes to the fellow on the sidewalk across the street. He is yelling and cursing, kicking the storefront walls in his anger, creating a clamor, a very public rage. It is quite a display, one seldom […]
SsAM: The Bite-Sized Korean Snack
A reflection by Danny Schweers for September 17, 2023. Because “The Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew” is such a mouthful of words, my church calls itself “SsAM”. It is a short bite-sized word. The second “s” is silent, so it sounds just like “SAM”, a name with many favorable connections: Yosemite Sam, Play […]
It Is Enough For Us
A reflection by Danny Schweers for August 27, 2023. It is enough for us to gather the crumbs under God’s table. We do not need to sit at the feast and enjoy the food and fellowship. Just give us the leftovers, the scraps. We are daring just to ask for that! We can eat by […]
In Retirement
A reflection by Danny Schweers for August 6, 2023. I am sharp witted in the morning and slow thinking in the afternoon. Right now, as I write this reflection in the evening, my mind can only plod along, writing down a word and wondering what the next one will be. There are times when my […]
How To Pray Without Ceasing
A reflection by Danny Nelson Schweers for July 16, 2023. Saint Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing”. To me that only makes sense if somehow prayer is as much a part of our lives as breathing. I have a sketchy idea of how it might work. Perhaps it is something like your idea. Last […]
Unlikely People
A reflection by Danny Schweers for June 23, 2023. What was it that the Rev. Canon Kirkpatrick said in her sermon last Sunday that was so inspiring? Here is my perhaps faulty transcription of what she said near the end of her sermon. “Jesus reminds his disciples to ask God for help, specifically in sending […]
Vikings, Grimaces, and Cobble Stones
A reflection by Danny Schweers for June 2, 2023. As Vikings cheered, riders grimaced their way over the cobblestones and up Monkey Hill. The event was the first day of the Wilmington Gran Prix. Men, women, and children raced their bicycles about five kilometers around Brandywine Park, ending at the top of Van Buren Street […]
Self-Righteous Certitude
A reflection by Danny Schweers for May 14, 2023. Towards the end of his book, Spying on the South, Tony Horwitz says that self-righteous certitude is one of the great ills affecting our country, left wing or right wing. What appalled him was the self-congratulatory attitudes he encountered in people who were not only certain […]
The Joy of Palm Sunday
A reflection by Danny Schweers for April 2, 2023. “Poignant” may be the word I am looking for to describe the triumphal entry by Jesus into Jerusalem just a week before he was crucified. I recognize the joy in the story but I cannot hear it without also anticipating the suffering that follows. The people […]
Open Heart Surgery
A reflection by Danny Schweers — After open heart surgery yesterday, my friend is doing well, thank God! Even at 84, he was fit enough to qualify for the procedure, perhaps because he has been a runner and a distance walker. At the same time, I pray for all those not doing well after their […]
