We have spoken often this year of the old that is passing. We know that some way we have lived in the world is no longer working. Our last Pentecost reading from Mark ends with Jesus’s words: “The end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation; there will be earthquakes and famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.”

Jesus is talking about the end times, which we all feel acutely these days, but the last image we are left with is pregnancy. The end of a pregnancy, and the beginning labor pains of delivery. The threshold of birth.

To read the Rev. Christine Marie’s full reflection, click “Read More.”