Singing Along the Journey

Faith

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More

Were you there?

I've had the computer screen open for 30 minutes now.  Nothing.  And yet my head and heart are so full of the things...all the things, in modern phraseology.  Finally, I decided to take my own advice, the advice that I give to my writing students -- just write.  You can always change it later; after all, this is a digital world. I want to tell you all about something and I am struggling.  I suppose that is the nature of the topic.  No, it is not some earth-shattering, life-altering personal news...or is it?  Hmm...but my topic for today, the one that I cannot put down, is this: witness.  Being a…
Read More

Bless, the Lord, my soul…

Occasionally in life, a much-longed-for opportunity drops into your lap unexpectedly. This week, I had just such a chance -- one of the brothers from the community at Taize spent an hour with us at VTS.   We had the rare opportunity to talk with and worship with Brother Emmanuel last Tuesday. It is funny, to have known and loved the music for many years and yet, to never have learned more about the community itself.  And so I was mesmerized as Brother Emmanuel explained to the assembled participants the founding of the Taize community and the precepts of its mission.  Finally understanding the mission and intent of the community, for…
Read More

A Musical #TBT

Usually, if I was going to have a musical #TBT, I would post an old performance picture or video to social media and let that be.  Today, however,  I want to talk about a song -- a song from my past, a song that it seems is more foundational to everything I believe than I might have understood, even yesterday. I've been working on letting go of some things and some relationships in my life, things and people that perhaps I have held too close for too long.  Psychologists and theologians often agree that holding too tightly  to (or, as I like to say, making an idol of...) anything is…
Read More

A Holy Saturday Meditation: When the Sun Refused to Shine…

This morning the light dawned after the sadness and fear of Good Friday, but our hearts are sore as we remember the crucified body of Jesus lies in the tomb.  That is the meaning of this day in Holy Week, known as Holy Saturday, a day of unknowing tears that will end, I am told, with the great Easter vigil and our first knowledge of the Resurrection.  I am looking forward to participating in my first Easter Vigil tonight, an ecumenical version sponsored by St. Mark's Episcopal Church here in DC and including members of many denominational churches in the area. Right now, though, I'm thinking about everything we heard…
Read More

A Good Friday Meditation, Pt. 2: I Crucified Thee

My emotions around the images and stories we link to Good Friday are complicated at best. That is why over and over again, words are not sufficient for me:  I must turn to music.  And while the Isaac Watts hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," speaks to the complex dance between sorry and love that is our human response to the life of Jesus, in particular the events at the end of his incarnated life,  it is Johann Heerman's Herzliebster Jesu  ( 1630) that speaks to the incredible guilt we can feel in our human failure to see the living God before us, each and every day. We know Heerman's fifteen…
Read More

What I’ve learned so far, Part 5: I am an evangelical, but not an Evangelical

One of the great gifts of being a Baptist in an Episcopal world is that these two years have provided me the opportunity to refine my understanding of what I believe and how I live into my faith.   If you had asked me to list what I expected to learn during my months of study before I started, I would never have said these words:  that I would come to a better understand that I am and always have been an evangelical Christian. It turns out that, in light of the events of this week regarding World Vision, this is a very, very important theological understanding to grasp. But here…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Living the dream…

Each day on our journey here in Israel has been, for me, a day of dream fulfillment.  But none so much as the last two days, and in particular today.   I can still see the room where the orientation meeting for my first try at going to Israel was held at the University of Missouri - Kansas City when I was 20 years old -- I can see Dr. Schulz and Dr. Klausner talking about what the trip would be like.  And I can remember the feeling of disappointment when the trip was cancelled for some reason that I do not recall.  And I can remember just this last fall my feeling…
Read More

Good morning, Galilee…

Greetings, one and all, from the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  After a very long day of travel (well, more than a day), I am here safe and sound, and, after a great dinner and a decent night’s sleep, I am ready for our first day of exploration.  It is hard to call it sightseeing and I don’t feel quite holy enough or at the moment theological enough to refer to it as a pilgrimage. But what I can tell you is that I am here…and true to form, I feel nothing that I expected to feel.  As usual, it took some sleep and a little exercise to bring…
Read More