Very few of my immediate family went into military service—none of my three brothers, nor I, nor my father, who was deferred from WWII due to an important stateside job, entered any branch of the military. I did have two uncles who served, one during WWII, and the other somewhat later, but that is all my contact with things military. I was certainly eligible for the draft during the war in Vietnam, graduating from college in 1968, but I chose... Read more

(Lectionary for December 10, 2017, Advent 2)The text for this second Sunday in Advent is so familiar, so clichéd, that it is easy to pass over it quickly with a sentimental smile. Anyone who is a singer, or a lover of all things musical at Christmas, knows this text as the words of the opening solo in Handel’s ubiquitous and beloved oratorio, “Messiah.” The tenor intones the recitative, “Comfort, Ye,” and many sigh with pleasure as the famous music begins its... Read more

I named this blog “The Peripatetic Preacher” some time ago, because I have in my life been very fortunate to have preached and taught in nearly every US state and in twenty foreign countries. I have led services and been inside classrooms in churches from Maine to Hawaii, and from Italy to Fiji to Brazil, not to mention on various ships at sea. When I imagined my contributions to Patheos, which have now spanned some seven years, I thought I... Read more

(Lectionary for Advent 1, December 3, 2017) The days preceding Christmas are often referred to as “days of magic.” Lights go up on houses, the stores are filled with artificial trees, festooned with plastic balls and phony flocking, while shoppers are serenaded with holiday tunes played by 101 Strings or Mannheim Steamroller. And old Bing Crosby lends his dulcet voice while refusing to sing any rhythms as written. Some may not find any magic in this feast of commerce, but the... Read more

(Lectionary for November 26, 2017) When reading the prophet Ezekiel, an interpreter is often more inclined to diagnose an acute mental illness than exegete the prophet’s words. This man was wild! His imagery is amazing, often pornographically bizarre. His eyes apparently see things no one else sees—whirling wheels and creepy crawly creatures in the Jerusalem temple and valleys filled with dried out bones. But in reality we know very little about the man himself and can only surmise anything of... Read more

I am the first one to admit that the Bible has more than its share of appalling and dangerous ideas. In that, I concur with my distant colleagues, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, the so-called new atheists. They are quite right to say that the old traditions can be dangerous; they are quite wrong to say that nothing in the old tradition can be beautiful, life giving, and wonderful. With that caveat, let me urge you never to read or... Read more

(Lectionary for November 19, 2017) I doubt many of you have preached many sermons from the book of Judges. I have done more than a few studies on this book in churches over the years, and I invariably title what I do, “Crazy, Murderous, and Lusty.” I add the lusty part to insure a good crowd. The stories of Judges are in many cases quite grim. There is Ehud, the left-handed Benjaminite (that tribal name means literally “the son of... Read more

In Dallas, Texas, at a small bus transfer station downtown, there is a large plaque against one wall, behind a tiny grove of short trees, with Amos 5:21-24 engraved on it. However, the author of the quotation is given there as Martin Luther King, Jr. Though that very quotation is engraved on his tomb at his center in Atlanta, he in fact did not make up the oracle; he was merely quoting what the prophet Amos had said some 2750... Read more

(Lectionary for November 12, 2017) According to the book of Joshua, the people of Israel, now led by Joshua after the mysterious death of Moses, has entered the land of promise, the land that later became Israel, has conquered and deposed all the indigenous folk who had lived there for hundreds of years, and now has assembled at Shechem to renew the covenant with YHWH, who has brought them all to this place of safety. As I said in last... Read more

Because I am writing this essay on the day after Halloween, and after walking with my children and grandchildren (the latter a four-year old lovely princess and a two-year-old fearsome tiger respectively) through a quiet and peaceful Los Angeles neighborhood, trolling for chocolate and other treats not nearly so commodious, the word “scary” remains in my mind. Not that I found much genuinely scary last night, though the two-old was seriously spooked by a very tall Tyrannosaurus Rex costume worn... Read more