A couple of months ago, we engaged a consultant to help us discern a path for our congregation. Christ Episcopal Church will soon mark 300 years, and we will celebrate that important milestone beginning in November 2027. I wonder if those who started this congregation thought it would be a thriving place of spiritual growth and nurture for so long. In the face of enormous challenges, those pioneers sowed a seed, and I am glad that they sowed the seed that has grown to become

I was recently intrigued by an excerpt of a book - The Pathless Path by Paul Millerd. I read it a few days ago. The idea of a Pathless Path sounds so confusing at best. How can a path be pathless? I asked myself. Either there is a path or there is none, so how can a path be pathless? But the more I engaged with the idea of a Pathless Path to understand what it meant, the more I became fascinated with it. Pathless Path is an ancient idea that says each of us is on a path, most

This week, our beloved country will celebrate 250 years of independence. It is such a momentous milestone, and I could not be prouder that, like millions of people, I am an American, and a proud one at that. I wonder what the feeling was like 250 years ago, when the ragtag army of patriots defeated the most powerful military in the world. The joy that comes with throwing away the shackles of oppression is often incalculable. The Revolutionary War reminds me that sometimes we

Your beloved Christ Church has been hosting Vacation Bible School this week. The week of VBS is always fun because you get to see children running around, playing together, screaming, laughing, and simply being children. It is a great privilege for me to watch them from my window. There is great value in that. It reminds me of my own childhood and the magic of being a child. I am grateful to all the children, counselors, and volunteers who have worked so hard to make this yea

Each of us experiences some lack. And that lack leads to yearning. As a matter of fact, it isn’t only human beings who experience some lack; all living things of God’s beautiful creation feel a lack, and that lack, again, leads to a yearning. The lack of justice makes us yearn for justice. The lack of faithfulness makes us yearn for faithfulness. The lack of security makes us yearn for security. The lack of food makes us yearn for food. The lack of water makes us yearn for wa

I am reminded of the change in seasons when I walk around Lake Elkhorn. There are several things that I notice on my walk when the season changes: I react to the fresh greenery. My throat itches. I see a lot of people walking, I see people either sleeping, reading, holding a picnic or simply enjoying the weather on their blankets. and simply enjoying the weather or facing a picnic. I see people riding their bikes and some others fishing. One important noticeable change is the

A few days ago, I read a story that I’d like to share with you. It is a rather long story, but it tells an important story about a whole slew of things. I loved it, and I hope you do too. There is a story of a lion locked in a cage in a forest. A monkey stopped by, and the lion said to him, “You walk freely under the sky while I count my days behind this iron. Is there no mercy left in this forest?” The monkey said in reply, “Mercy is not the problem; memory is. We remember w

Problems everywhere. My Nigerian brothers and sisters call problems Wahala. You would either hear, "Wahala no dey finish," or "Problems no dey finish." They both mean the same thing - we don’t run out of problems. Problems don’t ever finish. Everyone is dealing with problems, whether at school, work, home, church, sports, the store, or elsewhere. Wherever there are human beings, there are problems, and they don’t seem to go away. You solve one problem, and another problem man

Since 1619, when a group of Africans was brought to the shores of Virginia on the White Lion, millions of enslaved Africans were later brought to these shores, almost always against their will. They were bound by chains and locks and whatever restraining instrument you can think of. The enslaved Africans were often starved for days. The enslaved Africans sat and slept in human waste for weeks. The enslaved African got sick and never got any treatment. Those who couldn’t survi

Jollof Rice is a West African delicacy. It is believed to have first started in the Senegambia region of West Africa. Due to migration and travel, it has spread throughout the entire region and further afield. This delicacy has generated significant interest among people who are not from that region. It has generated some heated competition among people from the Senegambia region, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria. People from these different countries believe that t

Of the many commercials that air on TV, I find two emotionally challenging. One of them is about hungry children in underdeveloped countries. The other one is about hungry abandoned pets. The message about these two commercials is simple: your donation and mine would provide the food hungry children and abandoned pets need. We can argue that the commercials are meant to play on our emotions and motivate us to donate, but the real point is, if you have felt the ache of hunger

Astronaut Christina Koch’s description of planet Earth left me in awe. She said that, from where they were, the Earth felt like an object hanging out there. It appeared insignificant and was covered with darkness. To an extent, it sounded indifferent, but underneath that was a sense of awe, and feelings of gratitude that she had had such an indescribable opportunity to have seen a part of God’s creation that only four people out of the billions of people on planet Earth had e

A few weeks ago, I told the story of Nasrudin, a protagonist of Middle Eastern folklore. One night, Nasrudin was approaching his house when he realized he had lost his key. He tried to look for it, but the night was so dark he could hardly see anything. He got down on his hands and knees, but it was still too dark to see. Moving backward toward a street lamp, he again got down on and began to search the area under the light. A neighbor came by and asked what he was doing. Nas

This past Saturday, I participated in the Spiritual Direction portion of the Center for Spiritual Nourishment offerings at our church. The session was led by Carol Abbott, who is a certified Spiritual Director and a member of the congregation. Carol led us to reflect on the practice of waiting. For those of us who may not know, waiting is itself an important spiritual practice. Some time back, I learned about this practice of waiting in silence myself. And because of this pra

Each year, the Wednesday Evening Lenten Supper Series is one of the most enriching experiences of the season. We are always thankful to the members of Christ Church's Spiritual Life Commission, who work so hard to put this, and other, events together. The WELS series offers five weeks of insightful, life-transforming seminars, and the first session was a very well-attended success. Tonight, our own Father Manny will present his perspective on our 2026 Spiritual Life Theme, Bu

A few months ago, my family celebrated the 40-year anniversary of my father’s passing. It was a surreal moment for me. When I had the opportunity to speak, one of the points that I made was that I am not sure if I ever fully grieved my father’s passing. I still carry with me some residue of grief, and I don’t know if I will ever get over it. Grief, in itself, is a powerful human experience that encompasses every single aspect of our lives. The truth is, we grieve because of l

This past Saturday, I participated in the faith-based conflict resolution training sessions offered by the Diocese of Maryland in collaboration with the Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center. It was the second of three sessions. As part of our ice breaker, we engaged in a group activity of fixing a dish or making a meal. The dish itself and some of the ingredients should represent accountability , trust, grace, and stewardship . Each group could make whatever dish they want

I wonder if you remember the nature of relationships that you have had over the years and what impact they have had on you. Over the years, I have given myself the chance to reflect on one that had this profound effect on me. We met at vacation classes during our three-month summer break when I was a rising 9th grader. Back in those days, the school year calendar was similar to what we have in the United States. In the United States, the academic year began in mid- to late Au

I am not sure about my first Super Bowl experience. It was held on January 28, 2001, about a month after my arrival in the United States. I don’t remember anything about it, and even if I watched the game, I don’t remember anything about the game or the half-time show. My memory of the Super Bowl at that time is murky at best, but over the years I have come to really enjoy the aura, hype, energy, and excitement surrounding different aspects of the Super Bowl. It isn’t all abo

The city of brotherly love. I love Philly cheesesteak. I used to drive to South Philadelphia with my children to get the original Philly cheesesteak. But for some strange reason, I am not a big fan of Philadelphia because the disparity in income, neighborhoods, and socio-economic status, among other things, disappointed me greatly. Depending on which part of Philadelphia you were in, it would look either safe or terribly unsafe, or it could look rich or poor. Sometimes, it fe