Taking The Dave Test during the Holidays Question Four: “Can I admit that some things will never get better?” Introduction to the series Much of the last year was thread through with considerable loss. My brother, Dave, battled a fatal... Read more
Taking The Dave Test during the Holidays Question Four: “Can I admit that some things will never get better?” Introduction to the series Much of the last year was thread through with considerable loss. My brother, Dave, battled a fatal... Read more
Taking The Dave Test during the Holidays Question Three: “Can I avoid using stained glass language?” Introduction to the series Much of the last year was thread through with considerable loss. My brother, Dave, battled a fatal brain cancer... Read more
Taking The Dave Test during the Holidays Question Two: “Can I give up my broken gods?” Introduction to the series Much of the last year was thread through with considerable loss. My brother, Dave, battled a fatal brain cancer for nearly eight years and he died this last January as the result of a fall that was due in large part to his disease. He would have been 58 years old in October. In reaction to Dave’s quest... Read more
Taking The Dave Test during the Holidays Question One: “Can I say life sucks?” Introduction to the series Much of the last year was thread through with considerable loss. My brother, Dave, battled a fatal brain cancer for nearly eight years and he died this last January as the result of a fall that was due in large part to his disease. He would have been 58 years old in October. In reaction to Dave’s quest... Read more
Much of the last year was thread through with considerable loss. My brother, Dave, battled a fatal brain cancer for nearly eight years and he died this last January as the result of a fall that was due in large part to his disease. He would have been 58 years old this month. In reaction to Dave’s quest to find a durable faith and supportive friends, I wrote a book called The Dave Test, which was just released by Abingdon... Read more
A midday appointment took me home through the neighborhood in which we live. Driving along I noticed a lemonade stand operated by four little girls. I have a weak spot for drink stands operated by children. My brother and I spent a summer pulling a Radio Flyer through a construction site selling small bottles of Coca Cola, and I delight in supporting their efforts. When I stopped to buy my lemonade, the girls handed me a card, explaining that they... Read more
There are more than enough articles, books, and websites out there offering guidance on the practice of living in the moment, or awareness. But a good deal of that literature never asks the most important questions: Aware of what, why, and to what end? Some will respond, of course, that to ask that set of questions undermines the practice of awareness from the get-go. We should be open to whatever may present itself in the moment. That’s a fair criticism... Read more
We used to joke about the dilemma that visitors to an Episcopal church typically face. Do you “kneel, sit, or stand?” I’ve been in a few parishes that have even tried to help with the question. Unfortunately, far too many of the efforts focus on practice and practicalities. Not enough of them focus on the inner logic of worship. Spiritual practice is not just about the mind or the soul. We are not “Tinkerbell” trapped in bodies. We are body,... Read more
Prayers for the people of Boston and for all of us… Having lived for a time in the Middle East, I have passing familiarity with the impact that this behavior has on a nation and its citizens. The impact is chilling and brutalizing. We will need to look deep within ourselves to listen for the still small voice that is the word of God to us in difficult times. God give us grace, courage, and compassion in a balance that... Read more
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.... Read more
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