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
I really should not own a car. Hold that thought for a moment while I offer the story. I had walked to a nearby church on Sunday morning for an early service. A couple of minutes after I returned to my apartment, someone knocked on the door. I opened it to find the neighbor who lives directly below me. “Come here” he said, beckoning to the balcony. “There’s something you need to see.” I walked over and he pointed down... Read more
“After the first night of legal Gay marriage ceremonies in England and Wales, Christians are today desperately leafing through the Bible to identify another basic human right to rail against.” This quote came from a spoof site, but the spoof says too much about the long-held tendency of people who call themselves part of the kingdom of heaven to find something to hate. A number of years ago, I began, but never finished, a book I tentatively called, The Making and Unmaking... Read more
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