The prophet Jeremiah used the image of God as potter as a warning and a rebuke to the people for ignoring the ways of God and going their own way. The prophet Isaiah also used the imagery of God as potter, as an important reminder: But now, O LORD, we are the clay, and you our potter. All of us are the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 That seems to me to be a timely reminder for our day.... Read more

Thought for the day: The same people attend the same meetings making the same decisions in the face of a world that changes dramatically on an almost daily basis. Those who are actually actively engaged in those changes in business and society are absent from any decision making process or are at best very underrepresented. Hence the church keeps doing the same things that ceased working long ago, but somehow expecting the results to be different. It’s time to let... Read more

Forgiveness is a vital spiritual practice. Fortunately, I’ve always found it pretty easy to forgive and move on. In part, it may be that my memory is so bad. I can’t hold a grudge because I can’t remember what it was that I was mad about. It has been that way since I was a child. In my old age, though, I have experienced a shift. It still is true that when someone says, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake,”... Read more

There are many spiritual practices at which I am absolutely rotten. I actually didn’t know that I was so bad until I spent a year or so between when I stopped having any pastoral responsibilities at the Cathedral of Hope and started pastoring at Virginia-Highland Church. People often ask how it feels to go from preaching to hundreds of people each Sunday to preaching to a hundred on a good Sunday. I can say honestly that I am as passionate... Read more

Nobel Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel is a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. In his book The Town Beyond the Wall, Wiesel has a character named Michael who has been in prison for a long, long time. At one point, Michael is talking to a new prisoner who has great faith. The new fellow asks Michael how he has been able to stay sane in prison, despite such long and unrelenting abuse, and Michael begins to tell him about a... Read more

It hurts to be made to feel like you don’t belong. Being an outsider terrified us as children, and, even as adults, we avoid it at all costs. We want to be “on the inside,” “in style,” “included.” Being outside is a frightening experience, which is why this reading from the book of Hebrews is so challenging: For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are... Read more

We stayed home for Labor Day this year, and I managed to watch two movies I’ve been wanting to see. One was WAY past due, and the other is in the theaters now: “The Help” and “The Butler.” Of course, the two offer similar themes and lessons. While both movies are flawed, they still deserve our attention as important reminders of how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. I was uncomfortable at first that... Read more

How did you spend your Labor Day Weekend? Well, as you probably heard, 64-year-old Diana Nyad spent most of her weekend swimming from Cuba to Key West. I’ve spent Labor Day in Key West a couple of times, but I got there either by car or by plane. Her trip took 52 hours and 54 minutes. Although she might tell you that it actually took her 35 years, having made her first of five attempts to swim that route in... Read more

On Sunday, I attended worship at a United Methodist church in Savannah. It was my only Sunday off this year, so I wanted to check out a church that had been near the point of death but had been resurrected. This Sunday, they had more than 300 people in attendance. It was an amazingly diverse group of people. I noticed that three people in the congregation wore hats. One was an African-American woman who wore a “crown” that I guessed... Read more

Growing up in South Georgia in the 1960s, my life was immersed in the racism of the culture. Although, I never knew the kind of mean or hateful racism that bombed churches or galvanized lynch mobs, my exposure was probably more insidious and damaging. My mother taught me to refer to African-Americans as “colored people.” That seemed proper because I had seen in the Kress’s 5 & 10 two water fountains with signs that said “white” and “colored.” In the... Read more