by Guy Sayles | Jan 22, 2019 |
About four years ago, my tenure as pastor of a remarkable and challenging congregation ended. It was time. For a year, I’d undergone extensive treatment for cancer, and there were more drugs, pain, and fatigue to come. I couldn’t do the work of pastoral ministry in...
by Guy Sayles | Jan 8, 2019 |
Given my work—writing, teaching, and preaching—I do a lot of talking, either on paper, on a screen, in a classroom, or in a worship space. A lot of talking. Last fall, I spent 13 hours a week in class, preached every week, and taught occasional classes or seminars for...
by Guy Sayles | Dec 26, 2018 |
Among the myriad gifts of Christmas are: Assurance that God is with us—“Emmanuel.” God is not aloof from us or disinterested in us—not, as Bette Midler once sang, merely “watching us from a distance.” God is among us and for us. Clarity about the character of God. God...
by Guy Sayles | Dec 15, 2018 |
As always happens during Advent and Christmas, I’m giving thanks for the remarkable gift of music, a gift as necessary for my spirit as breath is for my body and nearly as impossible for me to make. Other than singing hymns in church, with Bruce Springsteen in the...
by Guy Sayles | Nov 27, 2018 |
My Dad was a salesman, a good one; and, on days when he was to pitch a big sale, he’d get up early, polish his shoes to a spit-shine, and review the proposal he’d soon make. As he left the house, he’d sing at the top of his lungs these familiar words from Oklahoma,...
by Guy Sayles | Nov 20, 2018 |
As I listen to my life and to the Spirit, I almost always hear these invitations: Risk trust. Practice love. Welcome joy. Discover hope. A full, free, and flourishing life hinges, first and finally, on trust. Erik Erikson said that, in the earliest stage of life, our...
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