Thy Sea is So Great, My Boat is So Small

by | Jun 2, 2014 | Uncategorized

The wonderful twentieth century story-teller Isaac Bashevis Singer once admitted: “I only pray when I am in trouble.  But I am in trouble all the time, and I pray all the time.”  Even when we need to pray, because of the trouble we’re in, or when we want to...

Reverence and Gentleness

by | May 26, 2014 | Uncategorized

Prompted by a phrase in the New Testament (1 Peter 3:16), I’ve been pondering the vital importance of reverence and gentleness.   Reverence is about acknowledging our limits.  I don’t know everything and can’t do everything.  Sometimes, I am wrong about...

Prayer for Mercy

by | May 18, 2014 | Uncategorized

Some of you asked about the prayer for mercy which was part of my sermon today.  Here it is; I hope you will find it helpful.  O God, remind me always that my life is your gift, and that I live under, and rest in, your Mercy. Gone forever is my once-proud...

Another World in this One

by | May 14, 2014 | Uncategorized

French poet Paul Eluard said: “There is another world, but it is in this one.” Late one afternoon last week, after a long walk around town, I sat for a while on a bench near the courthouse in City-County Plaza.  Almost directly in front of me, on the stone-paved...

Cost, Price, Value, and Worth

by | May 6, 2014 | Uncategorized

Here is the Call to Stewardship from this past Sunday.  Some of you had asked to see it again: Commodities, things, labor, experiences and gifts all have cost, price, value, and worth.  Cost is the amount of money it takes to plant and harvest, mine,...

Citizens First of the Kingdom

by | Apr 22, 2014 | Uncategorized

Not long after I came to Asheville, the Republican Men’s Club of Buncombe County invited me to their breakfast meeting to tell them about myself and my hopes for our church’s future.  It’s not my practice to speak at meetings, formal or informal, of political...

Easter and Our Need for Hope

by | Apr 21, 2014 | Uncategorized

We have a deep and pressing need for hope.  It takes hope for parents to bring a baby into the world, to hold a little one in their arms and to become, from that child’s first breath, the people most responsible for providing what that child needs and for shaping...

A Blessing for Holy Week

by | Apr 14, 2014 | Uncategorized

Take heart and hope from the promises of this Holy Week: when you feel good and glad, Jesus joins your parade of celebration.  When you gather at the table with people who love you, Jesus is there; he serves you the bread, and he offers you the cup.  When...

Freedom from Self-Consciousness

by | Apr 12, 2014 | Uncategorized

Several years ago, I realized that, for a long time, I had been fighting-back tears whenever I would see children run gleefully around a playground or hear them squeal with delight as they played, or notice their wonder over wildflowers, squirrels and birdsong. ...

Toward All Thnigs Made New

by | Apr 4, 2014 | Uncategorized

As I make my slow way through this frequently labored and often labyrinthine Lenten season, I am grateful that Resurrection lures us toward the future which it has already opened-up. Light and hope stream into our present circumstances;  they show us that love is...