On Christmas Eve, a young father watches his 3-year-old daughter do her best to meticulously wrap a present. And she feels old enough to do so, without any help from a parent. (Remember that phase?)Choosing a roll of expensive gold-foil…
There was a farmer who had a lot of fields, and he kept all the birds and creatures away from his crops with traps and fences. He was very successful.But he was also very lonely.So, one day, he stood in…
Rabbi Albert Lewis tells the story of a man seeking employment on a farm; he hands a letter of recommendation to his new employer that reads simply, "He sleeps in a storm." The farmer is uncertain what to make of…
I believe in the healing power of revisiting. Returning to stories—in books and movies and parables—that have reminded us that hope and joy and renewal are alive and well. Stories that ground us in the gifts of sufficiency and wholeness.…
A family went out to restaurant for lunch. The waitress arrives. “What’ll you’ll have?” She asks.The husband gives his order, and then says, “And the wife will have…”The waitress turns to the five-year-old daughter, “And sugar, what’ll you have?”With a…
I just finished a weekend in Anaheim, CA at the Religious Education Congress. Hugs from a few thousand of my closest friends. And I talked about the permission to slow down long enough to savor the moment. But that’s not…
Uncertainty doesn’t feel like a fun thing. And we like to think we’d recognize the stuff that may unravel us, but are routinely surprised. So, it is no shock that we yearn for more certainty, you know, to enable us…
I’m back home after a weekend on Vashon Island. I enjoyed my time as guest preacher this morning with an appreciative group at Burton Church. Truth be told, over the past four years, I’ve preached more to sheep and geese,…
We live in a world that needs healing, from the gentle arms and hands of grace.And every smile, every laugh, every moment of kindness, every bit of gentleness and tenderness, and every gift of grace, lets a little more healing…
Some years ago, a homesick dog made news headlines in Seattle. He negotiated traffic, eluded Washington State Police, and crossed a bridge. (Yes, it sounds like a Far Side Cartoon.) But this was not just any bridge.Zeb, an Australian shepherd,…