I’ll tell you what I tell my children: it is never appropriate to use bad language. Let me add a further clarification to this directive. It’s especially important never to use bad language in an interview with the Washington Post in which you are identified as the pastor of a church . . . in an article that is published with full color pictures the day before the quarterly all-church business meeting (look it up—I am not really interested in... Read more
I knew Allie Bucy when she was about 8. Her mom, Carolyn was the youth minister at the church where I was a member. I was pretty self-involved at the time (what’s new?), planning for my wedding and going through the process of licensing to the ministry at the church. I left soon after those two events, that year, in fact, to go to seminary and on my way in life. My path recently crossed Allie’s again when her mom,... Read more
It’s the first thing you learn in basic pastoral care class. The role of a pastor in a crisis situation is to be a non-anxious presence. That means that the pastor is supposed to be calm and reassuring under all conditions, even when everyone else is freaking out. The irony of this critical vocational skill is that there really is no learning a non-anxious presence. No class, practicum, study guide or tutorial . . . only really hard situations in... Read more
The words to Sarah McLachlan’s song Black and White keep echoing in my head today. You know them? “ . . . everybody loves you when you’re easy, everybody hates when you’re a bore; everyone is waiting for your entrance so don’t disappoint them . . . everybody loves you when you’re easy so don’t disappoint them . . . don’t disappoint them . . . .”Life’s hard at the moment. All my hang-your-hopes feelings about the healing power of... Read more
The sky was gray today. In the middle of a heart-achingly beautiful springtime filled with cherry blossoms and dappled sunlight, today the sky was flat, slate, gunmetal gray. The gray dulled the light so that everything looked a little subdued. As I made my way to the hospital I dodged in-between the raindrops, all the while watching the sky for the coming deluge. Even inside the hospital I noticed the gray. Gray halls with what seemed like miles of gray... Read more
One thing I’ve learned recently is that if you are a mother you can never guarantee pristine shoulders. I thought for awhile that this was a side-effect of having babies and I’m happy to say that, in the case of the babies, I always planned accordingly. I remember the first thing I did after learning our daughter Hannah had been born and we were going to travel to pick her up at the hospital the next day was to dig... Read more
It’s the stuff you read in the newspaper way in the back by the comics. Or on The Onion. What I am trying to say is that this stuff just does not happen in real life. Well . . . it happened. Just yesterday, in fact. Downtown DC churches have been victims of a vicious crime spree over the last few months. I’m proud (?) to say I was first to have my office burglarized, although the resulting hours spent... Read more
I’ve met some really interesting folks through the interweaving of church and blog life. One is Tripp Hudgins, whose blog is at this link: http://www.anglobaptist.org/blog/As you might imagine, I like Tripp’s irreverent approach to life. I also like that one of my wonderful new church members, Amy Dale, recently moved her membership from Tripp’s church in Chicago (thanks!). However, in the throes of Holy Week last week I visited Tripp’s site and encountered this list of 12 Characteristics of an... Read more
Hats off to this funny lady . . . I had to reprint a blog entry she wrote called “Ministerial Attire,” which, as you may know, is a personal interest of mine. Who knew, however, that an entire blog could be devoted to this topic? A good, long laugh was most welcome today.“I had occasion to talk about dressing for the ministry with a group of seminarians recently, which was a kind of fulfillment of my secret desire to host... Read more
This song has wandered in and out of my life for some time. Most recently a friend emailed me the words . . . appropriate thoughts for this new day. Blessed Easter. How Can I Keep From SingingTraditional My life flows on in endless songAbove earth’s lamentationI hear the real, though far off hymnThat hails the new creationAbove the tumult and the strife,I hear the music ringing;It sounds an echo in my soulHow can I keep from singing?What though the... Read more
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