I read the bible. Every morning. Wiping sleepers from my eyes, cradling a mug of hot coffee, I read the ancient words, prayers and creeds. Sometimes I find a challenge to my thinking. Other times, I find consolation. These past few days, I have found confirmation. Confirmation that we can’t assume progress. Things don’t just get better. When things seem to hit rock bottom in the story of God’s people, there can be further depths to descend. That sounds really... Read more
I think I stumbled into a good start. About five years ago I started coaching hurdles at my local high school. It was an odd chance encounter that I ended up coaching. Joyfully, hesitantly, I took a chance and jumped in. Having been a pastor, teacher, and consultant, and I felt incompetent when I began. Questions were the place to start. I knew my subject, hurdling and sprinting. I knew how to make kids run faster. Coaching young baseball players... Read more
I got an unexpected education from my friend about gator bait. It was one more wake-up call to the fact that I am white and he is black and we see the world differently. The racial blinders I have inherited as a member of the majority culture can make me racist, or at least racially insensitive. I found that we experience events in the news with a different set of assumptions. And in this case, he possessed an epistemological advantage.... Read more
It’s probably more accurate to say I am a recovering racist. Being anti-racist is what recovering is looking like for me. Hopefully, so are you. My parents raised us not to be racist. Growing up in Tempe, Arizona in the 60s and 70s, we lived in a pretty caucasian world. My folks wanted us to not judge people by their skin color. That’s not some lefty-liberal ideal. No, my dad was a Goldwater conservative. I don’t think I believe in... Read more
High school football begins tonight. It’s colloquially referred to by many as “Friday Night Lights.” I don’t have a kid of my own playing. But my tribe will be there in the stands on the field. In the stands will be the students, many of whom I coach in track and field. Also, seated under the press-box in the center of the bleachers, there will be parents, teachers, grandparents, siblings, and other folks who just like a good game. ... Read more
RDC: Reverend - Doctor - Coach
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