People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me.”  Mark 10 Have you seen this picture or one like it?  I’ve seen it in a lot churches – usually in some Sunday school class alongside images of the last supper, Jesus holding a lamp and knocking at the door and the occasional Jesus in... Read more

Have you ever heard of Will Steger? I first read about him in Bob Dotson’s book American Story. Dotson tells the story this way: Will Steger is an adventurer, a man who seeks out places where no one has stepped foot before. He has travelled to the coldest places on earth where it hits 70 below. In the vast wilderness near the poles, he trudges alone through the icy landscape seeming oddly out of place. He says, “You have to... Read more

One of the four lectionary scriptures for last Sunday was from the book of Revelation. It is a book that is quoted entirely too often by people whose only experience with the Bible is what they hear on television or read in apocalyptic fiction books or People magazine. As a piece of literature, Revelation is a beautiful work. As a roadmap to predicting our future, it falls tragically short. Sometimes I wish the scholars who created our current cannon had... Read more

Surely you know the hand game, ‘Here’s the church and here’s the steeple, look inside and see all the people.”  It has hand motions that are not hard to imagine with pointers making a steeple and hands opening up at just the right time.  As a girl that constituted my full and complete theology.  It also was the beginning the mind/body and matter/spirit split that still plagues me.  There is an outside and an inside or, as we say more frequently... Read more

The say you can’t go home again. Although I know what Thomas Wolfe meant, I’m not sure I agree. For the past couple of years, it has felt like I have come home again. After living for more than 22 years in Texas, two years ago Bill and I moved back to Atlanta where we met in 1980. I am the pastor of a church that I drove by almost every day during my first time living here. It is... Read more

The Dalai Lama says that, while he knows nothing about death, not having died, that he imagines it a “new outfit, a new set of clothes.”  Wordsworth the poet said almost the same thing, “death is moving into a new room.”   Jesus people say, “O Death, where is thy Sting?”(I Corinthians 15:55) We know that Tyler Clemente and Trayvon Martin are dead and we are not naive about who else will kill whom else.  We know about Colorado killings and... Read more

PREFACE   “Our Father for Unbelievers,” “Our Father, if you exist, I dare to turn to you. If you exist, your name is holy — hallowed be thy name! If you exist, your kingdom is order — a splendid order: thy kingdom come. * If you exist, your will is the law of the universe and the law of human hearts: thy will be done in us and in everything, on earth as in heaven. If you exist, give us today... Read more

I recently had breakfast with the pastor of a large congregation in Atlanta. Towards the end of the conversation, she paused, leaned across the table, and whispered almost as if she was worried I would think she had lost her mind completely, “I have a crazy, huge dream of what our church could be in the world.” She then went on to outline one of the most exciting, visionary strategies that I have ever heard from a pastor. By the... Read more

Last week was difficult. We saw tragic violence in the Boston bombings, reminding us that danger lies all around us. The violence is senseless and undiscerning, which makes it especially tragic. It is designed to scare us and reinforce the idea that the world is a dangerous and deadly place. It reminds us that even on our best days, we have very little control. It was a remarkable act of grace that our lectionary text this past Sunday just happened... Read more

A week ago, we all were deeply shaken by bombs exploding at the end of the Boston Marathon. It was a horrific scene in which innocent people were killed and hundreds were wounded. The country stayed riveted as we watched the drama unfold. The president tried to calm our fears and lead us in our mourning. It was a glimpse of people at their very worst and their very best. Much has been said about the heroes of Boston. Later... Read more