As I was moving through the discernment process between the ages of 18-20, my formation director had me look at several religious orders. I had zeroed in on the Redemptorists and the Benedictines but had looked at others. A class I now have long forgotten the title for had me write a paper on Ignatius of Loyola and I was introduced to the Jesuits. I only remember reading about the life of Ignatius and some of the spirituality his order... Read more
We are just a few days away from a major election in the United States and there is a lot of noise in our news feeds, our phones and in our emails about who is better than who and who is going to what better than who did it worse or better than the last person. It can all be very exhausting. I am beginning to see some burnout and anxiety around this election cycle, and I must admit, I... Read more
I want to close my October series on change and awareness of death with a discussion on death. I worked in the church in a variety of capacities for twenty years. I was fortunate enough to preach on two funerals during this time and was with several families as they said goodbye to loved ones. My first funeral sermon, however, was a tense one. My first daughter was born in December of 2002. While on our visit home for... Read more
Two weeks ago, I talked about memento mori, but how do we adjust to the reality of impermanence? We are all subjects interacting in a world of objects. These objects and their significance can change overtime. Take for example my childhood stuffed animal. I took it everywhere; I slept with it every night. It had a deep meaning for me from an early age to somewhere around eight or nine. In my office, I see changes in relationships, experiences and all... Read more
One of more memorable experiences I had with my District Committee of Ordained Ministry during seminary was a discussion around my theology. Being a very liberal seminary, I had been exposed to several theological orientations that were outside the normal dead white Europeans that my church was accustomed to. Feminist, Eco, Queer (this was not quite a thing yet), and Open Theism immediately put me at odds with my church and I was called theologically transient. I would argue that... Read more
Considering Different Opinions- A Primer to Open Theism Open theism posits that God is limited in knowledge of the future, particularly when it comes to human free will. This means that God does not have a predetermined plan for every event and can be influenced by our prayers and actions. This begs the question then, what do we talk about when we talk about God? If you have been following my stuff for a while, the notion of Jesus’s God vs.... Read more
Unlocking the Potential of a Spirit Led Life: A Journey of Faith What Does it Mean to Life a Spirit Led Life? As Christians, we are called to live a Holy Spirit-led life, but what does this mean? Let’s start with a well-known scripture verse: Galatians 5:16 (NIV) – “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” We may all know this, but what does it mean regarding living a spirit... Read more
The Spiritual Practice of Lament In a previous post, I offered these thoughts around grief and loss: To cry is to be human. When we come into the world, we often enter with a cry. I remember the first cries of my children. It was their declaration that they had arrived. In those first cries, they were exclaiming their discomfort with this new, bright, loud, and cold world. We can all agree that this type of crying is normal and... Read more
We live in a world of illusions. My daily world is filled constantly with people who live an illusory lie about perfection, control and normalcy. It is not just my clients who do this, it is society in general. We have made these phenomena MacGuffins as a goal for our existence. In 1882, Nietzsche wrote in the book, The Gay Science that “God is dead”. Here, Nietzsche is not exclaiming that atheism is true, as many people misinterpret. Rather... Read more
In September, the Benedictine teacher, Joan Chittester challenged us to think about discipleship through her Monastic Way newsletter. I found this edition to be incredibly intriguing as the other subject that I have studied more than contemplative thought is leadership. My first experience with leadership principles was in high school. For four years, I was part of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp or JROTC and later in college, I would attend two years of the Senior Reserve Officers... Read more
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