Well, this has been an interesting morning. I went to my ophthalmologist for my yearly eye exam and handed the receptionist my Blue Cross Blue Shield card and my Drivers License for ID. I sat down to wait and was idly thumbing through a magazine. A moment later, the receptionist came up to me and said, “Your insurance company said your policy had been canceled.” I just looked at her, shocked, and thought about the hefty check I have been... Read more
If you didn’t watch the debate between Bill Nye, “The Science Guy” and Ken Ham, the money and mover behind “Answers in Genesis,”then you can find the YouTube video here. Here is a completely non-religiously based view of the debate. They acknowledged the Nye lost the debate. I thought he did as well but didn’t see the actual verdict. Why was Bill Nye, an excellent scientist and communicator, whose arguments were cogent and well presented. the loser? Because the argument was... Read more
Yet One More FB Explosion For what seemed like the trillionth time, I watched another clergy Facebook conversation degenerate into frustration, name-calling, shut-off, and despair. The few political conversations I have participated while using the same medium have seen similar fates. Why? First, let’s look at Twitter. With a tiny character limit, it became a place to is to make a hard hit with few words and watch the fallout. One-liners rule the day. And one-liners have no space for... Read more
How we do love to kill one another. I have this vision of a far-right, sure-of-her-righteousness Christian standing with a huge gun, surrounded by bleeding, rotting corpses, saying to God, “Hey–look at me–I just cleaned out all the sinners for you. I’m the only one who was willing to go to the end for you! You and I are going to have a blast throughout eternity without all those sinners around.” This thought sprang into my mind when, between the... Read more
EVERYONE who is concerned for the future of the church needs to read this article. Quick summary: the teacher of a community college class in comparative religions puts her students in groups and give them this assignment: invent a new religion. The author writes, “last semester emerged as a perfect case study of millennial religion,” and then notes: There were several components of religion that were glaringly absent. Not one of them had career clergy who were in charge of... Read more
I wrote several days ago about this tragic situation of Erick Muñoz being forced by the officials at John Peter Smith Hospital to permit them to perform what was essentially a bizarre medical experiment on the body of his deceased wife. Because she was 14 weeks pregnant at the time she was officially declared brain dead (i.e., all life functions ceased), but was in the hospital when that happened, hospital personnel insisted they had to artificially keep her body functions intact... Read more
I’ve been thinking a lot about this tragic situation. Despite her own express wishes, along with those of her husband and her parents, this woman, who is actually dead, is being artificially breathed for, fed, eliminated for, etc. by the medical personal at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Administrators there (shall we read, “attorneys?” say they can’t legally disconnect her until they can safely deliver a baby. She was 14 weeks pregnant when she died I am not... Read more
Imagine this scenario: You and your family are, as are most people in the US, what is called “asset poor.” That is, if family income suddenly disappeared, you would have inadequate reserve cash to live even at the federal poverty level for three months ($1962.50/month for a family of four) and stay current with your “must pay” bills. Now, a layoff occurs, your car breaks down, and a child becomes quite ill. All normal parts of living. Your few assets... Read more
Three weeks ago I retired as active clergywoman in The United Methodist Church. Does that make me un-active clergy? I’ll say this, I am certainly active for being non-active. Earlier today, I learned that I will take 4300 steps if I walk to a recycling center and then head in the opposite direction to a dollar-type store to pick up an incidental (today, a forgotten cleaning supply). Part of my reason for wanting to move to the downtown Denton area... Read more
In The United Methodist Church, most clergy moves generally take place in the summer, after our Annual Conferences. This traditional time, along with school year schedules and extended summer vacations, are relics of our agricultural roots. Summer months had to be set aside for the survival needs of crop care, sowing, harvesting, and preserving. It’s one of those traditions that is rarely questioned, but may have served its time. We hardly live in a rural, agriculturally dictated world any longer.... Read more
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