Reformed, Hopeful, Always Reforming
John 15:12 – “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” I am struggling with John 15 this week. As I ruminate on the text in preparation for preaching on Sunday, I’m struggling. John seems to always provide me with a challenge, and in this case, the easy way […]
Read More Love One AnotherBe Kind As I was walking through the local Botanical Garden, I ran across a stone shouting out “BE KIND.” I looked around to see if there were other painted rocks that I had missed, but this was the only one. Placed near a fork in the trail in a barren piece of ground, the […]
Read More BE KINDWe are planning to have “company” this weekend, which is an archaic way of saying that we’ve invited some friends over for dinner. What it really means is that we need to straighten up around this house, and hide the clutter, and clean the floors, and pick up the dog toys. We also need to […]
Read More The House of the LordWhen you aren’t serving in a church, Holy Days and most Christian seasons can get weird. When I was working in a chapel my rhythm revolved around the seasons of the year. And, the joy of Easter after Lent and Holy Week was extraordinary. But, this year, even though I attended services on Maundy […]
Read More Loneliness“And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid . . .” (Mark 16:8) That story ended there. They were afraid? But why? Jesus was dead, now he’s alive! But that’s why they were afraid. Death then life isn’t supposed to happen. People don’t get up and leave graves. God is […]
Read More The Feast of Jesus’ Resurrection, 2018He led a protest march because the city lost what it was built to be, to call it back. They led a protest march because the city left behind its purpose, and they called it back. He poured out all he was to set right what was wrong, emptied his life so we would all […]
Read More Palm Sunday, 2018Just because God vows “I will remember no more,” that’s not forgetting. Just because the seed, Jesus, fall to earth and dies doesn’t mean it ends. God never forgets, lives forever with the pain, but won’t call it back. Christ dies to what was, dies with all the world watching, giving up […]
Read More Lent 5, 2018Our hospital’s administration has occasionally rolled out an ice cream cart as a way to offer encouragement to our staff. The chaplains get to be “in” on this adventure, serving as good-will agents and wayfinding guides for the cart and others who assist with ice cream distribution. As you may know, hospitals are fairly controlled […]
Read More Ice Cream GraceSometimes I wonder if we have romanticized the idea of the wilderness, as though the wilderness was a place where things were more real, truer, more natural than what we experience day-to-day. We seek out wilderness by taking camping trips, or going for a hike. We long for it as some kind of respite from […]
Read More Wilderness, Deconstructed“(J)ust as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up . . .” John 3:14 Moses lifted up the serpent so Israel could look at what was destroying them, stare it down in faith, and be saved. The Son of Man . . . […]
Read More Lent 4, 2018