Singing Along the Journey
Thoughts about faith and wholeness set to the soundtrack of life

Standing on the broad plain…

Yesterday, I realized that I had been somewhat silent during June...yes, I was quite busy this month but that doesn't usually stop me from having something to say or something that I need to process by writing about it. A couple of days ago, while speaking with my spiritual director, I realized that, for a great deal of the month of June I had been experiencing something new -- freedom, peace, and contentment.  I have been, as the Psalmist might say, standing on the broad plain. No, I have not been continuing my Mexican vacation, sitting on the beach with pina colada in my hand.  In fact, I've been working…
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Embracing the imperfection…

[caption id="attachment_727" align="alignright" width="300"] My writing perch...[/caption] Let me begin with some full disclosure here:  by the time I post this, I will be back at home and at my desk.  But as I'm actually writing it, I'm sitting at a wooden table on a deck overlooking the Caribbean Sea just off the Yucatan Penninsula.  I am coming to the close of what may be one of the most perfect vacation days, in a life filled with many blessed, beautiful days of vacation all over the world.  This may very well be the best of all possible days. So, why am I thinking about "embracing the imperfection"?  Well, it is…
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The weight of it all…

A year ago today, I was licensed to the Gospel Ministry at the Calvary Baptist Church.  As a member of my committee  (and someone whose grace and spirit I admire so deeply) said to me immediately afterward, in the grips of a welcome hug, "So, do you feel the weight of the Gospel call on your life yet?"   At the time, I probably thought that I did -- I certainly understood the solemnity of the choice that I had just made, the gravity of standing in front of my community and declaring it, the responsibility involved in asking for their confirmation of my call and the duty I had in…
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Roses and the meaning of Life…

I live in the city -- I mean, really, the city...so when I refer to my "garden" I am talking about the the 4 foot by 10 foot stretch of post-construction dirt rubble that was used to fill in the hill in the front of our house, some 40 years ago.  I am quite lucky, since I have the space in front of two houses in our row (the house next door is a rental property belonging to a friend, where I am also allowed to garden), but considering that I grew up with a full acre to garden in, well, you get the idea...it is small.  But over the…
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New word for a rainy Tuesday: dialogic

Every once in a while a word comes along that captures my imagination, and for the past week or so it has been this word, new to me:  dialogic.  I come from one of those families where the parental response to the question "what does  (fill in the blank) mean?" was a trip to the dictionary and then an evening spent using the new word in conversation around the dinner table.  I still run to the dictionary, albeit an online one, and sometimes a word just seems to continue to seek my attention.  That's what is happening with dialogic. At first glance, it doesn't seem a difficult word; I've had…
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Open mine eyes…

For various reasons, I had the opportunity to spend a considerable amount of study time with the Road to Emmaus story this week (Luke  24:13-35, in case you want to read it), and it has set me to pondering further some things that, well, I have been pondering.  As I was reading  from various commentaries, I was struck by one particular comment:  that, in the eyes of this analyst, one of the signs of a good story (particular a story written to instruct and guide) is that it is incomplete -- there are lots of "spaces" in the tale, allowing we the readers of that tale to fill in the…
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What we need now are muscular Christians…

That's a quote from one of my old favorite movies, Chariots of Fire (1981), a quote which has stayed in my heart and brain these long years and which, in the past few days, has taken on a more vivid meaning  for me and a greater urgency in my life.  No, don't be concerned...I am not about to decide that I want to "bike a century" like one friend or to take up triathalon training like another.   Being a muscular Christian in the Eric Lidell sense of the phrase means something totally different to me.  That is what has become clear to me over the past week. I didn't realize…
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Viva la Resistance…

No, I have not been mysteriously transported to the French Resistance and the fight against Nazi Germany, although, internally it might feel a bit like that.  And maybe “Long live the Resistance” is not really the sentiment that I want to express, because, really, I would like it to end – it just seems to be the reality of the past few weeks, and, particularly the last 48 hours. Resistance – you know, that gift from God that shines a light on something that needs our holy attention?  When you are in the middle of it, it certainly does not feel like a gift. There are lots of changes all around…
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50 More Days…

Well, the Day of Resurrection is past for another year.  Yes, I said the Day of Resurrection...not Easter.  You see, we are now in the Easter season. As I have said before, I realize that many things that are for me right now great big AHA moments, well, a lot of you may already know.  And if this is old hat to you, well, I apologize, but I'm just discovering this new way of being.  Yes, I have noticed in the Lectionary cycle that, just as with Christmas, there are Sundays that followed what I always called "Easter" and that those Sundays were labelled "Second Sunday of Easter", etc.  But…
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Choosing the resurrected life…

Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen, indeed!  Yes, it is early on Easter Morning, and I, like many of my musical and pastoral colleagues, have risen early myself to prepare for the service or services of the day ahead. Some of my friends are probably already in their places, ready to begin a sunrise service in the open air -- others (like myself) are sitting at a piano or computer, putting the last touches to preparations for services that begin at a later hour. But as I sit here, handling the last details and thinking back over the Lenten season and Holy Week, I think that I have made a choice…
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