As much as we’d like to see Nazis get punched in the face, https://youtu.be/9rh1dhur4aI It’s wrong to punch people in the face. Even racist, bigoted, Nazis. Even racist bigots who feel emboldened by the support of the President of the United States. We live in interesting and difficult times. Hate crimes are on the rise, emboldened by Nazis, bigots, and racists roaming our city streets and our halls of power. Much as we might like to punch them for being... Read more
Life is stressful. The news is stressful. All forms of social media are stressful. Finances, college funds, finding a new job, car repairs, relationships, family — the list goes on and on. Internal issues like fear and insecurity can create stress faster than a rock in your shoe. This doesn’t even include major life moments like deaths, divorces or marriages. Everything is stressful. Happy times can create stress. A graduation, a birth, a promotion, all are stressful, even when we... Read more
During the week before Christmas last year, my Facebook page lit up like a Christmas tree. Every hour the interaction and reach grew, and then grew faster. Increasing by more than 1,000 percent. The page reached 2.3 million people and gained more than a thousand new likes in a week. The post reached a total of more than 2,340,000 from around the world. People really like cats. Not a clever meme or insightful comment. A picture of a cat in... Read more
What makes us who we are? I’m not talking about the roles we fill — doing work, raising children, being a spouse, a friend, or a member of the choir. What person are we as we perform the roles of our life? Are we the same authentic person as God made us? Or do we wear different masks in different situations? Do you wear a work mask? A friend mask? A parent mask? A child mask? A mask for your... Read more
If that’s how they talk to each other in public, I thought, I can’t imagine how they speak to one another at home. I was at the grocery a few days before Thanksgiving. Another middle age couple passed by, arguing over a seemingly inconsequential subject. Neither spoke kindly to the other. Playing out a well-worn script so viciously, they obviously have said the words before. I couldn’t imagine living in their home. We all can suppress or fail to express... Read more
Across the American landscape men are losing their jobs amid revelations of sexual misconduct, some of it illegal, all of it immoral examples of a bigger issue. Republican politicians face accusations of sex crimes, and a pathetic portion of Christians rush justifications to the defense of the abusers. (Democrat sex crimes seldom find the supporters Republicans find. Just ask Anthony Weiner.) This is worse than a faulty theology of patriarchy that sees the Creator of all as exclusively male. This... Read more
I had a great conversation recently with John Philip Newell. John Philip is one of the world’s leading experts on Celtic Christianity. All Celtic Christian services I have attended have been similar: quietly contemplative, prayerfully pensive and filled with moving music. They reflect Presbyterian and Episcopal traditions while incorporating Celtic elements. Most mainstream Christians would be right at home in a Celtic service. But there’s much more to the Celtic Christian tradition… much that can appeal to people outside churches,... Read more
In recognition of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, and Martin Luther nailing his 95 thesis to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, my church recorded our hopes and wishes for the future of the congregation and the overall Church. We wrote our ideas on 95 sticky notes, that we posted to the church door. Read more
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