Talk with the Preacher
“At the temple, there is a poem called ‘Loss’, carved into the stone. It has three words, but the poet has scratched them out. You cannot read ‘Loss’ . . . only feel it.” from Memoirs of a Geisha Blessed Good Friday. Read more
“At the temple, there is a poem called ‘Loss’, carved into the stone. It has three words, but the poet has scratched them out. You cannot read ‘Loss’ . . . only feel it.” from Memoirs of a Geisha Blessed Good Friday. Read more
Maundy Thursday is one of the days I fell in love with Jesus. (I say one of the days because some of us are slow learners and it takes repeated experience to get the idea.) It was Maundy Thursday 1990 when I had an epiphany that changed the way I understood my faith. I don’t know why it took so long for me to get the idea (20 years, to be exact) but the experience was like someone pulling up... Read more
I realized today that silence has a sound. I never knew this fact before, of course, because I’ve rarely had occasion to hear it, especially since becoming a parent March 23, 1994. This is how my life sounds now. My day begins with the alarm clock ringing at 5:45 a.m. I am a very happy morning person so I usually bound out of bed, sometimes even humming. By the time I turn the shower off the coffee maker is brewing... Read more
There is a huge sign in the women’s bathroom at church announcing Clean Hands Week. It’s been up there for about 6 months (relatively short in church time). I don’t know exactly what is customarily included in a celebration of Clean Hands Week but I am all for clean hands all 52 weeks of the year so I have not gone to the trouble to take the sign down. That’s pretty significant since you know how I feel about clutter... Read more
Do you ever have the feeling that the experience you are in is bigger than you are? I have that feeling a lot. If I could just express the profundity I feel . . . .Most recently it happened to me when Mark and I went out for the evening without the kids (and while quite a notable occurrence in itself, this detail was not the specific reason I had the feeling that night). Let me assure you from the... Read more
I let a friend down today, and I’m feeling rather proud about it. This friend is somebody I would put near the top of my very short list of pastors whose churches I would attend. Any telephone call from John Ballenger gets my immediate attention because I think he’s such a superstar and because I would never want to let him down. Plus, I am very self-important and I want, at all times, to be totally indispensable to and completely... Read more
When I came to Calvary there were, objectively, a lot of older folks filling the pews. (Of course as each year goes by “older” gets a new definition, but that’s another blog entry.) Those older folks provided the leadership everywhere I turned at church and, frankly they’d been hanging on for much longer than they’d anticipated waiting for new birth to come. They were tired; they were getting even older. Rather than dealing with church politics, their waning energy should... Read more
It’s a rather ridiculous situation if you think about it. I grew up singing the song Jesus Loves Me, and, really, the main point of the song is not some hard-to-access, mysterious idea. As they say, it’s not rocket science. But I’ve realized lately that, for some strange reason, this is an idea that’s been easy to sing these past 36 years and awfully hard to live. As a matter of fact, I think that as I sing I must... Read more
As you know if you’ve been reading the blog these last weeks, the folks at Calvary are spending a lot of time sinning . . . er, that is, theoretically considering the Seven Deadly Sins as part of our Lenten practice. Today we’re discussing the sin of sloth. (Here’s Dorothy Sayers‘ definition of sloth, just in case you are unfamiliar with this specific sin: “In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair. It is... Read more
We’ve instituted a new plan at our house. I totally stole the idea from my sister and, frankly, had my doubts about its effectiveness. So far it has worked shockingly well. Watching the curious phenomenon of this plan’s implementation in our household has been very funny and, I got to thinking, rather instructive. Here’s the deal. Each member of our family under the age of 13 (except the dog) receives 21 marbles (okay, really they are beads because I couldn’t... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In