Elea Kemler

Rev. Elea Kemler's author photo

Rev. Elea Kemler (she/her/hers) has been the minister of First Parish Church of Groton, MA for twenty years and counting. She lives with her husband and two 17-year-olds and mostly loves being a small-town minister where she gets to bless just about everything, from chickens to the new postmaster.

From Elea Kemler

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Braver/Wiser | WorshipWeb

a child smiles up in wonder amid multiple vertical strings of light
Open to Joy

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
There is still and always joy in this world, but it usually comes right alongside the struggle.
In a suburban neighborhood, a girl lies stomach down on a lawn, holding a camera up to her face.
Startled into Noticing

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
I hope that this Great Silence, which has come alongside the suffering, holds the beginnings of our healing.
A silhouette of two people reaching out their hands to each other.
Assisted Living Devices

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
A lot of us feel like our lives should have come with instructions. Or maybe they did, but we lost the only copy a long time ago.
The tile in the bottom of a Magic 8 ball says "You may rely on it."
The Only Answer I Know

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
Hope matters. One of the best things we can do is to hold hope for someone when that person cannot hold it for themselves.
A small button, leaning against a rock, that says "you are beautiful"
Your Soul's Address

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
It is deeply spiritual work to learn to treat ourselves with compassion; to learn to see ourselves the same way we look at something we find beautiful.
The corner of a gravestone, which is bedecked with toys and flowers and a fake butterfly stuck in the grass.
Love Does Not Disappear

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
In my small-town congregation, our beloved dead seem to linger with us for a little while.
A stone engraved with "Town of Groton ALL ARE WELCOME Town Meeting 2017"
Building a Common Life

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
I choose to believe in community. I choose to believe in the difficult, slow work of building a common life.
A small child at a checkers board, his arm slung on the table.
Another, Truer Song

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
I wanted so much to believe that God was watching over this boy, that God was tender and protective and fiercely on the side of life and that this boy...
On a church chancel, children dressed as sheep and cows kneel during a Christmas pageant
Messy, Wildly Imperfect Love

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
Every year, I tell the congregation not to worry about mistakes because there aren’t any; there is only us, telling an old story about love getting born into this aching world.
On a dock extending into a smooth pond, four teenagers sit.
Love's Pronoun Is Plural

Elea Kemler

From Braver/Wiser
"Fear's pronoun is singular: I've got to watch out for me and mine....

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