With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More

With the click of a mouse…

As I was putting the finishing touches on some hopeful, forward pointing thoughts for 2021, planned for release on the Feast of the Epiphany, the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began.  That event, the culmination of forces at play in our world for much longer than an election cycle, happened just six blocks from my home.  Needless to say, the events of January 6 and the continued tension in which we are living change some of what I had written, but not all.  And so, now for some amended thoughts about the turning of the calendar, because, in so many ways, January 1, 2021, was hardly the first day of…
Read More

People, look East…the search for hope and wonder

People look East -- the first words of a familiar hymn often sung during Advent.  I'm having trouble leaving the words of this hymn confined within their traditional time frame.  The meaning of time has certainly changed for many of us these past months, and if 2020 changes anything, those changes call me to embrace the hope and preparation of Advent as a lifestyle, not a season. People look East, the time is near. Yesterday, as I rose at an hour all too early and all too cold for the end of December, again, I made my morning calculation -- which way will I walk?  Will I head to the…
Read More

Preparing the way…part the third

I don't know how you spent your lunch hours last week, but I spent most of mine describing in detail the Baptist distinctives of local church autonomy and soul freedom and just why it was not appropriate for the SBC to ask church communities to sign a statement of faith and belief.  That, combined with the other half of that luncheon discussion -- just what is meant by the formal process of discernment through which the majority of my classmates have just passed -- has left me feeling like I spent the last week in the tumbler of one of those rock polishing machines that I banished from the house over…
Read More

The unasked and unanswered question…why?

I don't know why I was surprised at the ask...I know what time of year it is.  We welcome yet another class of bright disciples of all ages and stripes to the seminary each year at this time, as the summer heat here in Washington tightens its hold on us all in that last gasp of summer's torment I know so well.  I should know just by the weather that it is that time when I am asked to stand and speak to that new class about my philosophy as a writer and as an editor in the Writing Center. Each year, after I have spoken, I am always shocked…
Read More

This time is ours whether we want it or not…

Indulge me for a moment, because, the following words express my own struggle with the times in which we live. I, like Flannery O'Connor**, only know clearly what I believe when I write about it.  So this is my own wake-up call, offered to myself, and to anyone who, like me, is watching with pain and sorrow the events unfolding in our world. Yesterday was World Refugee Day.  The day before, the current administration withdrew our country's participation from the one place in the world where governments come together and struggle with issues of humanity, the UNHCR, an imperfect, human institution, but the best we have been able to assemble…
Read More

Fire, the Great Creator

There's been a lot of talk about fire lately.  First, today is the feast of Pentecost, the day when, in the tradition of the church, the period of transition between the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ and the moment when the Holy Spirit descended as the flame of ministry and carried the apostles into the world to tell what we Christians call the Good News, or the Gospel (Acts 2:1-21). And then there were the great words from Presiding Bishop Curry's wedding sermon heard round the world, quoting the work of Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin when he said:  "Fire makes that possible, and de Chardin said fire was one…
Read More

Holding and being held…with God’s help

Apparently, May is a milestone month for me.   It was in May, too long ago to mention the date, that I was first baptized and confirmed at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian Church. I was 12 years old. And then, it was in May of 2010, that I was, as the Baptists say, licensed to the Gospel ministry, something more akin to becoming an elder in the Presbyterian Church or a Deacon in other traditions, a type of recognition of ministry without the necessary academic degrees. So you will not be surprised when I say that it was in May 2014, after a decision to pursue a seminary education (a decision…
Read More

Who are you…and why do you do it?

That question...I've written about it before.  And again, before.  And I most assuredly write about it again. Truly, it is a theme through most of what I (well, not just me) do...this idea of our identity, as people of faith, as people who live an incarnated existence, as followers of Jesus.  It is a question to which I do not expect to find an answer that endures for long; the answer has always been, for me, a moving target, often changing slightly with each breath that I take. So, obviously, when I hear the words of John 1:19-28, well, I just cannot help but consider the question again.  Where do…
Read More

Giant fishes and soldiers…oh my!

I see at least ten stories a week like this – the “just discovered at…” kind of archaeological announcement. I fell in love with the lure of the ancient long ago, starting my academic career as a history major and ending it with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies. This story was different, though. There, on my screen, was an image made of tiny little pieces of beautiful glass, an image like I had never seen before, with a headline that shouted “Earliest Mosaic of Jonah and the Whale Found in Galilee Synagogue (The Times of Israel, July 7, 2017). This is my kind of click-bait. And so I read…
Read More

Will you hear my confession?

I am not one to write about current events.  I have no pulpit; I am not a public figure.  And so, usually, I consider that what I have to say about the state of the world is, well, for the small circle of those around me, family, friends, acquaintances.    I stand by my belief that we are all -- ALL -- God's children and worthy of the love that is offered us.  And yes, I know that not all are willing or capable of accepting that love and the responsibilities that come with it.  That may be, for me, the ultimate definition of the word evil -- because that…
Read More