Mary Rocap

People of color live in recognizable geographic areas because of decades of redlining and restricting where they might live. So it feels particularly calculated that restricting their vote by slicing and dicing it to be counted among other neighborhoods and communities that do not welcome them can only be seen as another form of the systemic racism that plagues our society and calls into question our moral compass.

People matter. Their votes matter. People should be able to elect representatives who…

Lyrics to a Song I Wrote the following day:

There's a dusting of icy snow

There’s a hawk watching from a tree

There’s a dead man lying in a street up North

And anger rising in the land of the free

Hiding behind a podium, you're

Mouthing lying words

Denying the dead his innocence

And what the witnesses saw and heard

            You can say it once, you can say it again, but we know what our eyes have seen

It’s the season of epiphanies

The star’s light leading us on

The king is on a killing spree

Protecting his…

When six Justices of the Supreme Court tell you that the federal government does not have the authority to guarantee your right to end an unwanted pregnancy, but that the state in which you live now does, I am dismayed. I live in a state in which 36% of voters are Democrats vs. 30% who are Republican. In our state assembly, there are 28 Republican senators vs. 22 Democrat senators; in the house there are 69 Republican representatives vs. 51 Democrat representatives.  Beyond the gerrymandering which protects…

Last Sunday, the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 20, 2025, the appointed Psalm was Psalm 15. No matter what people say, character matters, especially in our leaders. It mattered way back when and it matters now. This psalm asks a question, gives the answer, and then summaries the teaching.

The Question: 

Lord, who may dwell in you tabernacle? Who may abide upon your holy hill?

The Answer: 

Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth from his heart.

There is no guile upon his…

I read this passage as the Lector in church on the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. The passage stirred my heart, and a new song was the result. I am including the reading as well as the lyrics to the song. I couldn't help but think this passage had a bearing on the politics of these days.

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their…

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.

On this day of celebration and tradition, every family has their own pageantry.

In our household, the go-tos are: decorated twinkle trees twinkling, Advent candles lit, Christmas placemats and napkins on the table, Christmas cards taped on the banister, a German Apple Pancake Breakfast. The stockings have already been opened but we’ll save the presents until after lunch when we are drinking eggnog, some of which will be…

click HERE for my introduction and Sydney's talk.

In the spring of 1970, I was a freshman sitting in a history class on Duke’s East Campus. Dr. Sydney Nathans was my professor. I sat in his class hoping to draw no attention to myself; to be silent and invisible. Had I known Sydney then as I have come to know him now through these months of email back and forths, I should not have worried so. He is kind, considerate, thoughtful, curious, generous. These qualities have stood him quite well in his work as a…

Click HERE for the link the sermon.

In the Name of God, 

The Body of Christ: The Bread of Heaven / The Blood of Christ: The Cup of Salvation.

This day, the 11^th of August, until 13 years ago had no special significance for me. But my father died on this day in 2011. One of his favorite things to say was “It’s a mystery.” That is, there are things we know, in our hearts, to be true that are not provable. He always said this with a smile on his face. So it is, in his memory and honor, I say to you: These…

(Click HERE for video (poor image/good sound)

We remember his death. We proclaim his resurrection. We await his coming in glory.

It was only 21 days since their Lord had ridden into Jerusalem with crowds lining the road, shouting and singing Hosanna. 17 since they shared what would be their last meal with him. 16 since he was nailed to a cross and died. 14 since his grave was discovered empty and they had begun to experience and hear of unnatural appearances and disappearances of their beloved Jesus.

They were…

I recently re-read Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain and came across this passage written from the perspective of the fiddler, Stobrod.

“One thing he discovered with a great deal of astonishment was that music held for him more than just pleasure. There was meat to it. The grouping of sounds, their forms in the air as they rang out and faded, said something comforting to him about the rule of Creation. What the music said was that there is a right way for things to be ordered so that life might not always be…