Singing Along the Journey

beliefs

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More

Choose this day whom you will serve…Advent 2013 Day 19

My first thought when I saw this listed as the passage of the day was -- really?  Joshua?  Advent? But it really turns out to be an inspired choice for an Advent reading: Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my…
Read More

Waiting…or not…

Perhaps it is the simple fact that I have spent much of the second half of the year 2013 in some sort of state of waiting or expectancy -- what is wrong, is the diagnosis correct, should I get the surgery, waiting for the surgery, having the surgery, waiting through recovery -- but I just cannot find that waiting and watching spirit that is supposed to be the hallmark of the Advent season. So today, I'm not going to engage with text from the Lectionary cycle; I'm not going to tackle a text from that lovely Advent calendar I have been using -- today I am not going to engage…
Read More

God with us…

On this tenth day of our journey through Advent, we return to the book of Psalms and read together Psalm 46. Like so many of the Psalms, this one contains one of those phrases that speaks to us down the ages, particularly when we think about our relationship with God..."be still, and know that I am God": God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah There is a river whose streams make…
Read More

Who are you?

One evening in Church History class the lecture began with this question:  who are you?  It was a good opening; it made me start, it made me pay attention.  It was not the words I expected in that place at that time.  And it was a great question with which to frame the discussion of the early Christian persecutions that followed.  I did not at that time realize the ways in which that question would echo forward through my life.   I certainly did not then nor do I now have as clear an answer as our Gospel reports that John the Baptist offered when asked the same question: This…
Read More

Testifying to the light

Today is the second Sunday of Advent when we light the candle of peace in my faith community, and I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, watching the few snow flakes that came disappear and change to freezing rain. What we meditate upon each week in Advent is not set by some great rule book; different communities follow different patterns and in my church family it happens to be Hope, Peace, Joy, Love.  Other churches follow other rituals:  for the Methodists, the Sundays represent expectation, hope, joy, and purity; sometimes it is promise, light, love and hope...you see the point; the meaning of this Sunday can be different,…
Read More

Watch for the dawn…

Everywhere in the world I have traveled, on at least one day, I make it a point to rise in the dark, grab my camera, and go to some advantageous point to sit and wait for the sunrise.  Some people like sunsets; I crave the moment when dawn breaks.  The picture I've included here is a picture of the sun rising over the Sea of Galilee, but I could just as easily have shown you dawn over Mexico, Spain, Bulgaria, Arizona and many other places...you can imagine that my photo file is somewhat difficult to manage. You see, in that moment when darkness becomes light, I see all the possibilities…
Read More

The right word…

Do you ever sit and struggle to find just that right word to say what is in your heart?  I know I do.  I am not a person who reworks what I write a lot...and you can probably tell that when you find a misspelling here or there or a wrongly used clause or some of the other mistakes I make while dashing on one of these pieces about "what I think" about such and such. But years of therapy and spiritual direction and reading and writing have taught me that words do indeed have power and must be chosen carefully. So what about those times when we know the word…
Read More

Wherever two or more are gathered…

I read that quotation again this morning as I read Pastor Amy's amazing article about the importance of community in the new book Gathering Together:  Baptists at Work in Worship, but the truth is, I have been thinking about it for weeks and in particular these last few days.  Because right now I am in a unique position to testify to the power of  a community of worship. You see, on Sunday, as I attended what will be my last worship service for a while, people of my community gathered around me and sang songs and prayed over me and laid hands upon me and hugged me.  They cried with…
Read More

Just what do we mean by…faith

Lately, I have had a lot of time and motivation to think about the meaning of the word "faith"...in addition to my studies last year about faith development and the paper I'm trying to gear up to write,  I had a chance to facilitate our summer Sunday school class, leading them through a discussion of that chapter in Marcus Borg's Speaking Christian, not to mention other more personal reasons to continue my reflections.  It seems to be the word of the moment . So, in preparation for my upcoming paper on the topic of faith development and adult learning styles, I pulled out some of the things I wrote last…
Read More

What I’ve Learned So Far, Part 4: Matthew 7:3-5

I'm wrapping up a very compact two week summer term at seminary and as I pause to take stock of my learning and formation to date, and, in particular, what I've gathered and incorporated these past two weeks, I cannot help but hear over and over some wise words my mother stole from Matthew 7:3-5-- 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, b ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,…
Read More