In 2002, I became a dad for the first time. Adeline Joy was born on December 14. Little did I know at the time that the next twenty-two years I would be surrounded by women. I have heard it all at this point, “girls are so much harder than boys”, “wait till they are teenagers”, “girls are so moody”. In my professional career as a pastor and a therapist, I have raised girls and boys equally. I spent five years... Read more
“Crazy Train” I was training on my spin bike this afternoon thinking about this post and the song “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne came on and I got to thinking about the lyrics and how some songs aged well. This is one of them. The album, Blizzard of Ozz was Ozzy Osbourne’s debut album as a solo artist. Featured on this album was the song “Crazy Train”. The lyrics of the song deal with the ongoing cold war and... Read more
Christmas has never been my thing. I was a real pill as a kid. We did not know much about ADHD back in the 80’s, it was still treated as a retardation and had not quite made it to a learning disorder or behavioral health concern it is today. In my most recent training on Autism, the presenters even put ADHD under the umbrella of neurodivergence. Needless to say, I was often overstimulated, often hollered at and my family put... Read more
This week, in my discussion on civil discourse, I want to demonstrate how we can talk about how we can understand and support the LGBTQIA+ community in a compassionate, Christ centered manner. As a word of disclaimer, this is not my wheelhouse. What follows is not meant to speak for a community of God’s people I will never fully understand. This is my attempt as a healer and a pastor who cares deeply for all of God’s creation to bridge... Read more
Advent week 2 is about Peace. Back in July, I asked whether peace was achievable in a peaceless world. As I believe that peace starts with us and our relationship with God, whether naively or not, I still believe peace is achievable, if only on a micro scale. Like gratitude, which I have also written on, peacefulness is contagious. Consider this verse from Isaiah: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young... Read more
An oft overlooked point of reference for many Christians is the fact that Jesus, who is at the heart of our faith was more than likely a brown skinned, middle Eastern, Palestinian Jewish male who lived in an occupied country by people who were probably lighter in skin color than him. Ironically, I have spent a lot of time in churches that have never depicted Jesus this way. My grandmother even had the classic blue eyed, ivory white skinned and... Read more
I have the privilege to sit across around one hundred people per month and hear all sorts of stories, tragedies and victories. I have been doing this in some capacity for the last twenty-four years. A lot has changed in the world since my beginning. I have noticed that people are more calloused, emboldened, entitled and ignorant. I want to sit for a moment with the notion of ignorance. It is not an Insult Perhaps the most famous example... Read more
Advent 2024 Week 1 – Hope This week, we enter the four weeks of Advent, a time of preparation for the symbolic celebration of Jesus’s birth. The first week is about hope last year, I wrote on this, noting that the world was in an ugly state, it still is, and we still need to hold on to that hope. This week, Christians will light the first of four candles on the Advent Wreath. This first week’s candle is... Read more
You are a spiritual practice. “Each of us is a work-in-progress. The spiritual practice of you challenges us to become all we are meant to be as God’s beloved sons and daughters. We are, after all, co-creators of the Great Work of the universe. By attuning ourselves to what in different traditions has been called the image of God, the everlasting soul, or the higher self, we are able to fulfill our mission in life.” I had a client in desperation the... Read more
John Wesley said there are two types of holiness. Personal holiness, where you grow your personal relationship with God, and social holiness, which is loving and supporting your neighbors. To be a complete Christian, we need to focus on both. He wrote: “The Gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love is the length and breadth and depth of Christian perfection.” I want to end the year with a series... Read more
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