From the First Beginning

by | Dec 25, 2015 | Uncategorized

My great-grandmother Tiny (her name was actually Tina) was a “character.” One day, while sweeping her front porch, she slipped and fell down the three or four stairs that connected the porch to the walkway.  She hurt her ankle, but managed to get to her feet and...

The Storm-Child

by | Dec 24, 2015 | Uncategorized

I cherish the quiet of very early mornings on days like Christmas Eve, times when “not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse,” when a text or an email isn’t arriving, a tweet isn’t chirping, and no one is yet calling. This morning, around 5:00, there were...

God’s Great Smile

by | Dec 17, 2015 | Uncategorized

Every year since 1977, I have led a Christmas Eve Communion Service, often more than one.  For 38 Christmas Eves, I’ve had the honor of joining the angels’ surprising announcement: “Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be for all people, for...

We Can Trust in Surprises

by | Dec 10, 2015 | Uncategorized

I enjoy Christmas—always have. I look forward to children’s pageants, complete with Burger King crowns for wise men, bath-robed shepherds, and aluminum foil-wings for angels; misty-eyed singing of “Silent Night” in the glow of candlelight; watching George C. Scott as...

With Truth and Grace

by | Dec 4, 2015 | Uncategorized

Lately, I’ve felt that our culture is like a house full of teenagers left alone for too long without any adult supervision. There’s a lot of noise. The television is on, music is blasting, and nearly everyone is talking to, or texting, someone who isn’t in the room....

Thanksgiving and “Church”

by | Nov 25, 2015 | Uncategorized

Many of the Thanksgivings and Christmases of my boyhood were spent in Huntington, WV. Both sets of my grandparents lived there, as did a wide circle of other relatives. On the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving, as soon as Dad got home from work, we’d pile in the...

Living in and by Love

by | Nov 19, 2015 | Uncategorized

Since my college days, I’ve had a recurring dream. On a rainy Sunday night, my car breaks down in a small, rural south Georgia town. The only gas station that boasts a real mechanic won’t open until Monday morning. The only available food is nearly day-old fried...

Random Thoughts in Search of a Common Thread

by | Nov 12, 2015 | Uncategorized

The best answer to the idea that Joseph had the pyramids built to store grain might be Steve Martin’s classic and hilarious “King Tut. Tut was, Martin sings, buried in a “condo made of stone-a” which is a closer-to-the-facts description of a pyramid...

Testing Students, Evaluating Myself

by | Oct 21, 2015 | Uncategorized

Though I’ve been teaching and supervising Doctor of Ministry students for more than a decade; and have, as a part of that work, read and evaluated an array of personal exploratory essays, theological reflection papers, and summaries of ministry projects, last week, I...