Five Weeks Out I am five weeks out from my main spring events – Bald Eagle Gravel Grind on April 14, a 46-mile grave bike race in the central mountains of Pennsylvania and Hyner Ultra 25k on April 20th. I have written about the marathon monks of Tendai Buddhism and while my regimen is not this strict, my days start early with lectio divina, prayer and breakfast. After the kids go to school, it is usually a 1... Read more
Chapter 53: The Reception of Guests The Rule of Saint Benedict is quite clear when it comes to guests. Borrowing from Matthew 23:25, this chapter opens that all guests are to be welcomed as Christ. I find the wording of Matthew 23:25 and the use of this verse theologically significant as to how we are to treat guests. In other places, for example in the transfiguration story, we get a vision of Moses and Elijah, but here, we are called... Read more
My dad turned 76 last week and it really put things into perspective for me. I suspect I will have my dad around for at least 12 more years, given his dad hung around till his late 80’s and my grandma died at 91. As a pastor, I have assisted many families through the dying process, to think about this for my family, it seems incomprehensible. With both my mom and dad and my in laws, we have been... Read more
A Long-Distance Runner with Long Covid I went for a 12-mile trail run today. It was strong and I really felt the effects of yesterday’s three-hour spin in a good way. I call runs like this rebound runs. My goal this year is to return to running 50k’s. I ran my last 50k in 2020 and was still posting personal records (PR’s) in 2019. All this changed with COVID-19. After the second shot, I felt like I aged 10 years,... Read more
My news feed and my pastor friends are all talking about the “He Gets Us” ad that was played during the Superbowl this year. I am not a football fan and therefore did not see the ad, though I have seen enough clips of the ad and have read enough commentary to get the idea behind the ad. A Christology Primer The fancy study of Jesus and his divinity is known as Christology. Scholars and thinkers since around 100... Read more
I had a long workout planned this morning, 6-8 miles. I did not get it in, I have a lot of excuses as to why. The biggest excuse was that I just enjoyed spending time with my wife a lot more than I would have enjoyed running in the 25-degree, 11 mph wind this morning. We do not get moments like this much anymore. I work 8-10 hours most weekdays and at least 5 hours on the weekends. She works... Read more
There are nine types of love according to the Greeks: Philia, Pragma, Storge, Eros, Ludus, Mania, Philautia, Agape and Meraki. If we have taken any traditional Sunday school class or marriage encounger class, we have seen at least three of these, eros, philia and agape. This week, as we celebrate Valentines Day, I want to write two posts looking at love, one from a broader, contemplative perspective and one from a personal growth perspective. What does it mean to... Read more
We are hearing a lot about violence these days. Has it ever gone away? Will we ever find peace? As we celebrate Black History Month, I want to briefly highlight the nonviolent thinkers and doers of the Civil Rights movement, I then want to narrow my focus to how we can cultivate nonviolence in ourselves. Blessed are the Peace Makers Jesus was a nonviolent prophet. He used power carefully. But what is nonviolence? In digging around for something I... Read more
We are hearing a lot about violence these days. Has it ever gone away? Will we ever find peace? As we celebrate Black History Month, I want to briefly highlight the nonviolent thinkers and doers of the Civil Rights movement, I then want to narrow my focus to how we can cultivate nonviolence in ourselves. Blessed are the Peace Makers Jesus was a nonviolent prophet. He used power carefully. But what is nonviolence? In digging around for something I... Read more
Alright! We have made it through January. How is everybody doing with their goals? If you have fallen behind on your goals, remember this, every day is a practice of restarting. Today is a great day to renew those goals. Dry January I am taking on a big challenge this year. I have not run a 50k since the 2020 running season. When COVID hit, I like a lot of people got the shots. Something about the second shot changed... Read more
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