Select Page

Loving the Neighbor and the Neighborhood

by | Jul 12, 2020

I heard Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) for the first time when I was six years old,  during summer Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church of Conley, GA. My teacher illustrated the story with flannel-graph figures of the priest, the...

A Time for Lament

by | Jul 3, 2020

Nearly 129,000 Americans have died of COVD-19, and the number of cases is growing rapidly. Along with the pandemic of illness, there’s an epidemic of loneliness. Many people are sustaining severe economic losses. There’s intensified and justified anger about...

Jesus, the Virus, and Not Wasting an Apocalypse

by | Apr 26, 2020

(Purl’s Yarn, Asheville) I’ve written and deleted a half-dozen posts about the Covid-19 Pandemic, I’ve deleted them because you don’t need my opinions about medicine and you don’t want my political commentary. What I mostly wrote was a series of rants—cathartic,...

Anger, Frustration, and Grace

by | Mar 18, 2020

This year’s assignment for inner work during Lent came as an unsought gift and demand. On Ash Wednesday, between a midmorning meeting and an early afternoon medical appointment, I went to the noon service at All Souls Episcopal Cathedral. I looked forward to being...

Needing Each Other, Yearning for Divine Love

by | Feb 16, 2020

For the last 2½ years, I’ve had the opportunity to serve as interim pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in West Asheville. January 26, 2020 was my last Sunday with them. Here are a couple of outtakes from my sermon for that day, “Living is Jesus,” which drew themes from...