TMI – How Bible Reading can be Bad for your Spiritual Health

April 2, 2013 By 43 Comments
Reading about mountains is different than climbing them

Some of the most important truths in the Bible are found in obscure passages that never made the highlight reel of miracles, crosses, virgin births, and empty tombs.  Tucked away, for example, between Jesus healing of a sick man by a fountain, and his feeding multiple thousands with a few loaves of bread, I found one the most powerful, and least talked about statements Jesus ever made.  His miracles created quite a stir among people who had a stake in the religious status quo, and as a result, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: church, intimacy 43 Comments

Holy Week – and the mysterious glory of our guide

March 26, 2013 By 1 Comment
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It happens every time I'm in mountains with people in better shape than me.  We start skiing or hiking or climbing and once we're in a rhythm on some steep uphill slope, they start asking me questions:  about family, faith, sport, politics.  They want conversation; I want to breathe!  They're faster than me, and I know that my presence is holding them back because when they say things like, "Yeah, when I was on Mt. McKinley for the fourth time last spring..."  I'm trying to ski up 800 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: intimacy, life, questions Tagged With: , , , , 1 Comment

The Hygiene Hypothesis: How fear and anxiety are creating a toxic faith

March 21, 2013 By 7 Comments

Every March I'm reminded of the reality that allergies are a big deal in our culture.  This is the season when people are carrying around inhalers, getting shots, taking drugs, and drinking all kinds of juices in order to combat their body's own overreaction to harmless substances.  This time of year it's pollen, but for some it's not just pollen; nuts, animal hair, dust, milk, wheat, year around.  Yuk. This article explains the theory that allergies are on the rise because of our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Creation, life Tagged With: , , , , , 7 Comments

Torn and Tattered: mutual brokenness as the basis of friendship

March 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

"I needed to be back on track. Pity is the last thing you need. Pity is hopeless. Pity is what someone gives you because he is afraid to take care of you. I didn’t need that", said Phillipe regarding why, in spite of 90 highly qualified applicants, he hired an ex-con with no experience to be his care giver after his paragliding accident which left him a quadriplegic.  The story of his relationship with his caregiver, Abdel, nicknamed Driss, is explored in the marvelous movie "Intouchables", … [Read more...]

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Redeem Everything: Learning from St. Patrick

March 15, 2013 By 3 Comments

As the weekend of green beer and cabbage approaches, it's appropriate to consider the rich heritage most of enjoy without even knowing it, passed down from the Celtic Christian communities of Ireland and Scotland during the dark ages.  You can learn about through a favorite book of mine, "How the Irish Saved Civilization", whose thesis is that when the Roman empire collapsed and the west was plunged into centuries of barbarism and fear, the bastions of sanity were the Celtic monasteries.  This … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Creation, justice Tagged With: , , , , , , 3 Comments

Keeping on…because life is like snow; and rain

March 13, 2013 By 1 Comment
it was there, but I haven't seen it since November

You're in a relationship with a particularly annoying family member or coworker.  You're doing your job at work, but nobody seems to appreciate or notice, even when you go the extra mile.  You're trying to feast on Christ (like I speak of here), as you seeking to develop some habits of Bible reading or prayer, but most of these meetings your mind is elsewhere, because the Bible is, let's face it, hard to understand.   You're exercising and eating right, and have been at it now for, let's say, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Creation, generosity, life Tagged With: , , , , , , 1 Comment

The best question to ask when you are overwhelmed and stressed

March 5, 2013 By 4 Comments

Standing at the base of something as big as Mt. Rainier can seem overwhelming and impossible, but lessons learned there can help us navigate the realities of life and leadership because you don't climb a mountain with a leap; you climb it step by step.  Here's what I mean: Taxes.  Job stress.  Family dysfunctions.  Broken appliances.  Big decisions.  Illness.  Car problems.  Commuting stress.  World news.  The sum of all this is stress, and unless it's dealt with the stress itself … [Read more...]

Filed Under: coffee with God, life Tagged With: , , 4 Comments

Powers and World Forces: Sugar, Salt, Fat, Coke, Kellogs, Kraft, Coke.

February 28, 2013 By 12 Comments

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness...." Ephesians 6:12 This story on NPR caught my attention yesterday because it came just as I was doing something I rarely do anymore:  stuffing my face with chicken McNuggets from McDonalds while I was driving home from a study day in the mountains.  It wasn't the best of days.  Forgetting the computer cord meant was I done studying (or at least writing my sermon) earlier … [Read more...]

Filed Under: body, Creation, justice, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , 12 Comments

Quitting Religion for Lent?

February 26, 2013 By 1 Comment

"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your assemblies.  Even though you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offering of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them"  Amos the prophet It happens to all of us at times;  Events and moments which, in better times, would be pregnant with joy and meaning, are reduced to obligations.  "Off to church with you" your mind says, on a Sunday morning, and so there you go.  … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inhaling, intimacy Tagged With: , , , 1 Comment

If you fail at falling, you’ll fail at everything.

February 18, 2013 By 4 Comments

Eric Fromm, in his classic "The Art of Loving", writes that a healthy environment for growing up would include parents who, between them, would receive both an unconditional love and a very conditional and demanding love.  That sounds controversial of course, and probably is.  But I wonder if there isn't some merit in thinking about it a bit before dismissing it outright.  After all, Jesus, we're told, was full of grace and truth.  He told his followers that they needed to be perfect, and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: church, life, questions Tagged With: , , , , 4 Comments