As a young, first-time pastor, I thought that hope was positivity. I thought that hope was faith that was put into action. I thought that hope was something that you hung up during Advent proclaiming the good news that the Messiah is coming. After years of pastoring, I’ve discovered hope is something that you hang …
At some point in our afternoon, backyard adventures, I got a splinter in my finger. As I was washing dishes I realized that it was there and asked Sam to take a look at it. He looked and said, “That’s pretty deep, it’s going to have to come to the surface.” I looked down and …
In January 1947, Hank Williams was riding in the car with his Mama coming back to Montgomery after a show. He was sleeping in the backseat of the car, when she woke him and told him, “I saw the light,” telling him that they were almost home. This is one of the songs that sometimes …
I wasn’t prepared for the chilliness in this air this morning as I walked out the door to run. Yesterday’s run was humid and hot and I expected this morning to be the same. I knew if I didn’t just start running, I might convince myself to retreat back into the warmth. Oh, I have …
For the upcoming weeks, our community of faith will be wandering in the wilderness with the Israelites as we near Advent season. I am terrible with directions. So bad in fact that when I first started driving, I was instructed to check in when I left somewhere and when I arrived somewhere. Since I started …
There’s something in the air now that the seasons have changed. It is a cooler air and the wind is moving the air more quickly, but there’s something else that’s there. Something that hasn’t been a part of Fall before. Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever been in a group or in a …
This weekend, we reached another terrible threshold. The death toll in the United States has passed 200,000 people who have died from COVID-19. 200,000 families torn apart. 200,000 patients whom healthcare officials have tried to help. If you didn’t know that we had reached this monumental number, it’s because there is so much to distract …
“Mama, do you have any questions for me?” Our four-year-old almost always starts his day with this question. He is so curious. He wants to know as much as he can about everything from the names and planets of Star War characters to how and why hurricanes form. He wants to learn every letter and …
This past week the lectionary came from Romans and it talked about loving our neighbor, a concept that we most often associate with the sayings of Jesus recorded in the gospel. What struck me about this instruction in Romans is that it comes after the reminder in Romans 12:1-2 to “offer our bodies as living …
Over six months ago, churches all across the United States scrambled to answer the question, “How do we worship online?” We have fought and struggled with technology and with the Divine wondering when we would have to stop answer this question and when we could safely come back together. I can remember distinctly the first …
