Permission to let go
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…
Daily Dose (Feb 13 – 16)
Tuesday -- This week: The invitation to be here now.As young clergy, just out of seminary, it was the impulse, attraction and aspiration to provide the “answers” people needed. That would make the difference, I told myself. And I realize…
Invitation to be here now
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…
Daily Dose (Feb 6 – 9)
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 light of grace
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…
Daily Dose (Jan 29 – Feb 1)
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…
The gift of enough
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,…
Daily Dose (Jan 23 – 26)
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…
Reintroduced to wonder
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…
Daily Dose (Jan 16 – 19)
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…