We Haven’t Heard from You in a While

by | Mar 24, 2018 | Uncategorized

I’ve not written much lately, and a few of you have asked, “Are you okay? We haven’t heard from you in a while.”The easiest explanation is that time has been scarce. Teaching at the university, serving as Transitional Pastor at a local church, and working on a few...

A Long Lent and Easter Always

by | Feb 25, 2018 | Uncategorized

The season of Lent became more deeply significant to me in 2014.Most folks who read my reflections know that, on Ash Wednesday of that year (March 5), I began treatment for recently-diagnosed Multiple Myeloma. The insidious cancer itself, the powerful drugs I’ve taken...

Character: Primary Realm of Change

by | Jan 26, 2018 | Uncategorized

Character is the primary arena of change. We can’t change the DNA we inherited, the circumstances into which we were born, or the families which shaped and misshaped us, or the wounding events we’ve undergone. Some things about our bodies, temperaments, and minds are...

Magnetic Vision of the Change we Hope For

by | Jan 21, 2018 | Uncategorized

(This is longer than my usual posts; if I had time, I would make it shorter!)Change is possible, but not if we try to do it on our own.In an earlier post, I identified some of the factors which combine to make change more likely:emotional-spiritual energy from beyond...

The Possibility of Change

by | Jan 9, 2018 | Uncategorized

When Anita and I were in seminary, we served a small and loving congregation in southern Indiana. One of our next-door neighbors, a generous man in his late fifties and a faithful member of the church, was crustily cynical about the possibility of change.  At...

The Politics of Christmas

by | Dec 23, 2017 | Uncategorized

Even though we lose track of in the glitter and sweetness of our celebrations, Christmas is intensely and insistently political. It’s about who’s in charge.Jesus was born in an occupied land and under the shadow of Rome’s Emperor. It was his decree that Mary and...