Walking in the Darkness

Marcus Halley shares a Lent sermon from St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church (New Haven) on Jesus as “the light of the world” in John’s Gospel. He links the woman at the well (Photini) and the man born blind to the idea that true sight is spiritual insight. He argues that darkness is not the absence of God, drawing on Barbara Brown Taylor’s contrast between unrealistic “full solar” spirituality and a “lunar” spirituality that accepts seasons of doubt, fear, and uncertainty while trusting God remains present. Against war, political violence, and other heavy recent news, Halley says the light that shines in darkness helps us name suffering, perceive God at work, and join that work through prayer, and acts of solidarity and compassion, remembering we are never alone.

00:00 Introduction

01:26 Sermon: Walking in the Darkness

14:33 Reflection

18:31 Closing Gratitude and Final Blessing

Where Are the Young People? with Allen Wakabayashi

In this episode, Marcus introduces an extended Everyday Liturgist conversation with Allen Wakabayashi, chaplain at the Episcopal Church at Princeton, prompted by Allen’s Living Church article “Where Are the Young People?” Both reflect on what students teach them with their diverse backgrounds, deep questions, a hunger for meaning, and the need for a non-performative community where it’s safe to be broken, ask hard questions, and mature beyond Sunday-school faith. The episode closes with Allen’s gratitude for continuing to “walk with Jesus” amid chaos and frustration, and Marcus’s reflection that faith must be allowed to evolve through loss, death, and resurrection, asking whether the church can create a container for transformation, reengage tradition with integrity, and live a vibrant faith that changes people from the inside out.

00:00 Introduction

05:08 Conversation with Allen Wakabayashi

45:40 Take-aways, Learnings, and Challenges

50:17 Closing Gratitude and Blessing

"Where are the young people?" in the Living Church: https://livingchurch.org/commentary/where-are-the-young-people/

Meet Fr. Allen, Chaplain at the Episcopal Church at Princeton: https://www.ecpton.org/clergy-staff

A Lenten Observance in a Distracted World

In this episode, Marcus Halley reflects on Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent as a call to cultivate focus and attentiveness in a chaotic, distraction-saturated world. The word “behold” (which appears twice in Matthew’s Transfiguration story) is more than seeing—it requires contemplation, stepping back, leaning in, and having “the eyes of our hearts enlightened.” Using Peter’s misunderstandings on Mount Tabor—wanting to build tabernacles and missing that Jesus is the tabernacle and that Jesus’ mission includes making people walking vessels of God's glory—he connects the Transfiguration to the true humanity found in Christ alone. Marcus critiques the “attention economy," warning that it is designed to yield outrage, anxiety, dehumanization, and confusion rather than wisdom. He invites listeners to resist distraction during Lent by learning to truly behold God, others, and the world.

00:00 Introduction

03:26 Sermon: Behold (Last Epiphany 2026, St. Paul's Church)

19:10 My Lenten Practice: A Plan to Focus

20:40 Closing Gratitude + Blessing

"The Birth of the Attention Economy" by Jake Lundberg (The Atlantic): https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/07/the-birth-of-the-attention-economy/683727/

When is violence the moral option? Is love really a durable power?

In this episode of Everyday Liturgist, Marcus dives into a student's tough question on the morality of violence and the bigger themes around love and making a difference in the world. This conversation shaped the sermon he gave at St. Peter's Episcopal Church (which has been modified for this podcast) which explores the overwhelming presence of violence and cruelty in the world, the power of God's enduring love, the impact of living with compassion, and how God uses ordinary people to make a difference.

00:00 Question: When is Violence the Moral Option?04:40 Some Centering Moment by Howard Thurman06:37 Sermon16:17 Closing Thoughts, Upcoming Conversations, and Closing Gratitude

"Why I Am Not a Pacifist" by C.S. Lewis - https://www.42rulesforlife.com/why-i-am-not-a-pacifist/.

"Discernment" by Marcus George Halley - https://substack.com/home/post/p-174913767

"But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he consented."- Matthew 3:15

What does Jesus's baptism mean for us? Divine solidarity. God chooses us even when we don't choose God.

Happy Epiphany, y'all!

What would make the Magi journey thousands of miles to see an infant? A king? A story, one that promised to reshape everything they, in their wisdom and knowledge, had come to know about the world.

I read over 133 books* in 2025 (if you count all 77 books of the Bible). These are the five passages from the non-biblical books that I can't stop thinking about. Here's to more reading in 2026!

Read the Bible in ONE Year! BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesus: https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/63058-bibleproject-one-story-that-leads-to-jesus

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Eiren Caffall's All the Water in the World

Herman Melville's Moby Dick

Octavia Butler's Parable of the Talents

Abraham Verghese's The Covenant of Water

Robert Farrar Capon's The Man Who Met God in a Bar: The Gospel According to Marvin

Have questions or comments? Email them to me: [email protected].

Jesus invites us to a life free of shame and fear... which might come as a surprise given what passes for Christian faith in our wider culture. If Jesus invites us out of shame and fear, what does he invite is into and how to do we practice this new sort of life into being?

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We're taking a new adventure! Everyday Liturgist is becoming a podcast! Let's explore ways of thinking of Jesus, faith, spirituality, and what it means to be a Christian disciples in new ways, with a little bit of humor and a whole lot of gratitude.

Have questions? Email them to [email protected].

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