Our memories make us, inform us, shape us. They can fill us with the warm glow of love given and returned, of special joys and experiences. They can also burden us with a sense of obligation or make us cringe with shame. On a sub-conscious level, memories make our decisions for us. And Memory Monday approaches–better known as Memorial Day. So, will we stop and remember? Will we honor the memories of those upon whose lives we get to stand... Read more
What does it cost to do the right thing? Especially when doing the right thing means your whole life comes tumbling down around you? A whole life that is good, well-lived, and couples business expertise and success with the respect of the larger community? A movie, Locke, explores that concept in an agonizing 90 minute car drive. Writer-director Steven Knight’s film, which won the British Independent Film Award for best screenplay, invites us into the life of Ivan Locke. I... Read more
I recently returned from a quick trip to NYC. As do so many others, I determined to carry my bag on the plane to avoid the checked baggage fee. With both incoming and outgoing flights, I was in the last boarding group. In both cases, the flights were full and the gate agent suggested those of us boarding late might want to gate-check our bags. I decided to do so, and so prepared to enter the airplane with only a... Read more
Why does Les Miserables move me so much? In 2014, I watched an incredible Broadway performance of that famous musical. By the end, I stood cheering and applauding. I was also weeping openly. Why? I don’t cry that easily–and I know the story extremely well. I’ve even read the book from upon which the musical and the many movie versions are based: all 530,982 words, or 1488 pages of it. But I still wept. What I see here each time is... Read more
I just read this powerful, compelling, heart-rendering article by the Rev. Wil(da) Gafney, Ph.D., associate professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, reminding us that the horror of the Nigerian girls being abducted into these “rape-marriages” has a sound biblical basis. – See more at: http://um-insight.net/the-biblical-basis-for-the-rape-marriage-%23umc/#sthash.hfixNpvf.dpuf The author is correct. Here’s a short snippet from her piece: We must tell the truth that the bible says that fathers can sell their daughters into sexual... Read more
Today, the increasingly famous Denton Arts and Jazz Festival kicks off. I can hardly wait. Several years ago, I offered a message comparing the church to several different kinds of musical groups. I showed video snips ranging from genuinely awful beginner bands to superb choral/professional orchestra combinations. When we watched the jazz band, we found it: the best musical metaphor for the church. In jazz, we see the musical theme consistently undergirded by improvisations as one musician after another stands... Read more
It is Easter Day. I find joy spilling out of my soul, rolling with waves of delight, sparkling in sunshine. This Easter is the first I have not worked in many years. It is the first I have not approached in some tiredness after the rigor of Holy Week services. It is the first in which I could take Holy Saturday without pressure to spend several hours in stillness, waiting, watching, wondering, probing the darkness. Yes, I missed the privilege... Read more
I would have cut and run as well. I would have run into that darkness to save my body, not caring that I was leaving behind my soul. You see, before anyone saw the light and bright of Easter Sunday, darkness prevailed. Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem probably led many to hope, “Now, someone will get rid of these Roman oppressors!” They saw Jesus as “messiah,” the sent one who would set them free. Messiahs live in a world of... Read more
In my retired life, I wander from church to church on Sunday mornings. When I was serving a church, I celebrated Holy Communion weekly, knowing I needed the sacrament for the sake of my soul. The liturgy anchored my week. But now, as one who must eat gluten-free, I find this practice highly problematic. At a recent church visit, I breathed with relief after reading the bulletin and seeing that gluten-free wafers were available for communion. Without them, I would have... Read more
That the inquisition cometh will be necessary in order for conservatives to maintain their doctrinal purity. That’s what the drive to doctrinal purity always does. It splits and splits and splits but those few are so deeply sure of their holiness that the collateral damage seems also to have been a holy move. I just read the heartbreaking report that some 60 (unnamed at this point) conservative pastors and theologians in the United Methodist Church have held a phone conversation... Read more
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