Tuesday -- This week, we embrace—and are embraced by—the gift of grace.After 30 years of preaching, the Rev. Howard-John Wesley stood in front of his congregation (Alexandria, VA) and admitted: “I am tired in my soul.”“I feel so distant from…
The year is 1953. Eleven-year-old Mike is diligent about his paper route, setting aside money to buy the desire of his heart. His parents tell him that he can spend the money he earns on whatever he wants (as long…
Tuesday -- This week: We know there is power in the gift of enough.Let’s be honest, in today’s din, with much to fret about, that’s not easy to do.Let us begin here... We carry this capacity to honor the sacrament…
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,…
Tuesday -- Many years ago, I spend some time in a village in Holland, near the border of Germany. I was there for a two-week writing workshop. And yes, it was life-giving.As friends, each evening, we sat around the river…
A small art gallery near Lake Galway in Ireland holds an exhibition with local art. A poet of no small renown drops by to view it. As he finishes his perusing, a local farmer arrives. Once a year, the farmer…
Tuesday -- Yes, we are, all of us, builders. We are, all of us, about the business of building places and spaces for human dignity and inclusion, and kindness and compassion, and justice and hope. But some days, it doesn’t…
An elderly carpenter is eager to retire. He tells his employer (a very well-respected contractor) of his plans to leave the house-building business. He wishes to live a more leisurely life with his wife and extended family. He knows he…
Tuesday -- The week, the invitation and permission to return to, and be embraced by, the gentle arms and hands of grace.We told the story of a Mary Oliver poem being read to a group of maltreated young Kenyan women,…
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…