Several years ago, I adopted a plant-based lifestyle. Both my father and grandfather had heart disease and open-heart bypass surgery. I adopted a healthier lifestyle mainly to avoid this type of outcome in my life. Every year approximately 500,000 people in the United States have open heart surgery, but it should be noted that bypass surgery doesn’t really solve the problem in the heart (it only bypasses it). It is quite common in the American religious experience to use spiritual... Read more
In my denomination of origin, everyone was always slightly worried about everything. We created a bit of a stir around the time I stepped down from being a pastor when I let it be known that I did some mediation and yoga. I know, right? Several people kind of lost their minds and made it way tougher on us that it had to be. I have a friend in a progressive church still struggling... Read more
I was a pastor for 20 years, so I reluctantly participate in theology discussions. I know enough about theology to get into conversations, but not enough to be heavily invested in winning those arguments. I usually regret injecting myself into someone else’s struggle to understand, except on the rare occasion when everyone is open and generous in their response. I respect religion and theology as much as it is a pursuit of understanding of the... Read more
The picture is of my grandson, Jackson. Just this week, I got to see him. He is immune compromoised, so I haven’t seen him much this year. Our grandchildren have been important to our deconstruction story and our faith journey; because everytime we look at them, it sparks in us a desire to live more honestly and to be authentic and present for them. I am still completely in love with both of these books because they are the... Read more
The lights on my porch remind me of a couple of things. Every time I look at them, I’m reminded I still need to paint the porch. It won’t take long, but it’s one of those things like the gutters that I eventually paid someone else to take care of. The other thing the lights remind me of is one of the most difficult weeks of my life. We hosted a Hawaiian party at our house about 2 years ago,... Read more
In my denomination of origin, they used to talk extensively about the value of a cooperative. By organizing churches together, we felt we could accomplish more. I witnessed the value of this – several times, resources were pooled and mobilized and instantly we could solve a problem that might have taken years to solve as an individual church. I have also witnessed the reverse conundrum when the organization did nothing but ensure that everything would take longer because “things move... Read more
There is a popular illustration about an old mule that fell into a well. The farmer couldn’t bear to shoot the animal so, he simply started shoveling dirt into the hole to bury the long-time friend of the farm. Like many old stories, it has lots of variations, but the important part of the story is how the mule responds. Instead of giving up, each time the shovel full of dirt lands on its back, he shakes it off and... Read more
Most religious systems begin with the identification of what we should fear. It helps to create a need for the product it is selling, and it sets up the story. Every God story has an adversary that comes into the narrative to mess things up just at the right time. Over time, religion has included much of its culture into the narrative to make the story work better, so the solution seems all that much more effective. Focus on... Read more
There is a sign in a yard in our small town that says, “We Back the Blue.” I’m assuming it’s a response to growing negative sentiment in the U. S. when we see examples of abuse. We always have the same response to the sign. We say, “Most of us do!” It is true. Most Americans are supportive of the police function in this country, we want there to be “law and... Read more
The tradition I came from (my people if you will) never even discussed women being senior pastors. Rarely did a female approach the stage unless it was a small church and there really wasn’t any other options. The first church I pastored had all male leadership and even though we considered ourselves empowering of women, the things we empowered them to do was limited. Instead of arguing all the elements of this theologically, let me just throw out a proposition... Read more
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