There’s just something about a good beginning… If we are honest, any good preacher or speaker will tell you that with a good beginning (and a strong ending) you can get away with some not-so-impressive stuff in the middle. Not that one should make a habit of getting by with great intros and crummy content, but there’s some grace to be found in a punchy beginning, and some weeks, that’s a comfort. This is where Luke takes centerstage in the pageantry and... Read more
“When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel... Read more
My kid’s got a nose on her. I don’t mean a glaring, unfortunate feature. I mean, she has a sensitive olefactory device. She has been known to tell her daddy that he smells like “beard.” (Translation: something involving hops). Or to tell her brother, “Baby brother, you smell like waffles!” No man or child in her life will ever be able to sneak a cigarette, that’s for sure. She will never be able to walk by a bakery un-tempted. She... Read more
“What a thing it is to sit absolutely alone, in the forests, at night, cherished by this wonderful, unintelligible, perfectly innocent speech, the most comforting speech in the world, the talk that rain makes by itself all over the bridges, and the talk of the water courses everywhere in the hollows! Nobody started it, nobody is going to stop it. It will talk as long as it wants, this rain. As long as it talks I am going to listen.” ... Read more
To the tune of finding a little wilderness this season, here’s an excerpt from “National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” It’s short but meaningful, with some stunning visuals. Also, for you sunshine-spoiled Phoenix folk who are freezing in the 50-degree mornings… THIS is what cold looks like. Read more
Advent Week 2:Bible Study and Discussion Questions Why do we never see John the Baptist on a Hallmark card? Or a giant, blow-up snow globe to put in your yard? Come to think of it, we don’t even include him in our sanctuary tableau. Our songs, our greetings, our pageantry, all seems to skip straight from Isaiah to the annunciation. What it comes down to, I think, is that the wayward 2nd cousin is just not sexy. Not like the... Read more
““Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best…” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.”” That word you’re after, Pooh Bear, is “anticipation.” It’s a lovely and mysterious feeling that often eludes us in an instant-print, overnight delivery, one-hour eyeglasses and buy-today-pay-later kind... Read more
For your listening pleasure, an Advent song (no, really!) that encompasses all the hope, the dwindling darkness, and the anguished beauty of the season. Thanks, Emmylou. “There’s a Light” Really, just do yourself a favor and download the album, “Light of the Stable.” The whole thing is flat-out fabulous. Worlds better than Celine… Sometimes, it just takes a country girl. Read more
Advent; Week 1, Day 3 Today, right this minute, some 34 million people are living with AIDS. Wait a second…That’s not very festive. December 1 is World AIDS Day. It is a day to commemorate the loss of life; to raise awareness; to advocate for those needing treatment; and to work for a cure. This is a cause near and dear to my heart, and to my calling as a minister. I’ve been involved with AIDS service organiations in Kentucky, North Carolina, Phoenix,... Read more
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