Dark Night

by | Jun 26, 2022 | Uncategorized

(photo: pixbay) This post comes from journal reflections. While I’m reluctant to share them, I do so with the hope that they can help others. “I pray and incur  silence” (poet R. S. Thomas, “The Presence”). For more than a year, until very recently, God has been...

Lost and Found

by | Apr 18, 2022 | Uncategorized

Source: Unsplash A few weeks ago, hiking late in the day near Hot Springs, I got lost–not just temporarily detoured, utterly and completely lost. I was alone and hadn’t told anyone of my plans. I was in an area I know well, so I didn’t take a trail map or...

Being Born Again Again

by | Mar 13, 2022 | Uncategorized

This morning at Grace, we heard two gospel readings: the one assigned for the day from the 13th chapter of Luke’s Gospel and, by a series of fortunate (for me, at least) events, another from John’s Gospel. I heard the passage from John’s Gospel often in the church of...

Life is Now in Session

by | Jan 3, 2022 | Uncategorized

Just before New Year’s Day, I was walking along A1A in Flagler Beach, with a clear view of the ocean to one side and of various homes and businesses on the other.  I was in a reflective mood: pondering what has been and what might be, clarifying what matters most...

A Lot of Recovering to Do

by | Nov 11, 2021 | Uncategorized

Credit: Pixbay We’ve got a lot of recovering to do, don’t we? We’re trying to move toward healthier and more whole lives in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic; unveilings of entrenched racism, growing income inequality, and inadequacies in our healthcare...

Somehow, Jesus

by | Sep 16, 2021 | Uncategorized

When I was in elementary school, I attended meetings of the John Birch Society. I can’t remember how it happened that I was, on several evenings, in a room full of adults who watched 8mm movies and filmstrips, listened to recordings, and reported on books and articles...

The Gifts of Seven Hard Years

by | Aug 5, 2021 | Uncategorized

I’m grateful and a little surprised to be alive. Since being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in January of 2014, I’ve lived, in Raymond Carver’s words, “longer than I or anyone expected. Pure gravy.” Despite the many things cancer exacts from me, the pain and fatigue...

Powers and Principalities: A Podcast Conversation

by | Jul 28, 2021 | Uncategorized

Here’s a link to a podcast conversation I had with Mark Ramsey, Executive Director of the Ministry Collaborative/Macedonian Ministry Foundation. It was great to talk with Mark about some of the realities churches face as we move into whatever post-pandemic (and...

Beyond Regathering

by | Jun 8, 2021 | Uncategorized

This post focuses on the life and ministry of congregations. The regathering of our churches for worship and other ministries has been a source of relief, a reason for gratitude, and a cause for celebration. During a long season of necessary isolation from one...

Thresholds, In-Between, Paradox, and Liminality

by | May 15, 2021 | Uncategorized

I lay down in the early afternoon of a sunny and cool Chicago Saturday. Anita and I were with our son, Eliot, and his fiancé, Tatyana. Later that day, the four of us would join several of Eliot’s and Tatyana’s friends for a relaxed informal dinner party at the home of...