Singing Along the Journey

writing

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More

Contemplating the unexpected…

I owe the phrase of this title to my friend the Rev. Kathy Guin. Sometimes, others can see so much better than I can, even when I know that I see something. Sometimes it is through the eyes of others that we actually can see what we are doing, and a little bit about why we do it. I was just surprised by the presence of a light, dainty, pink rose after weeks of a Washington-style heat wave. I mean, I was only able to write, "As the hottest stretch of summer continues, all over the neighborhood, the roses have decided to bloom again...this little one is mine, on a…
Read More

The best cure for writer’s block…

I'm not much of a poet, but a savvy writing teacher once taught me that one of the great ways to break through writer's block was to take a walk somewhere, be as deeply observant as you can be, and then, write a haiku about what you see. So here we go: Starfish laden beach, Dolphins present as I ride Sun, surf, this is peace. It doesn't hurt to have Hilton Head Island as your inspiration.
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

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

Beyond my own walls…

It's Friday.  It's been another tough week in the world.  And I am sitting here, in a dorm room at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, getting ready to head out into the last day of an amazing conference for writers of all things spiritual, the Beyond Walls conference of the Kenyon Institute. The oddest thing happened at the beginning of the week was that people asked me, over and over again, a question that I had not considered at all myself -- why are you here?  It may not seem an odd question to you, but I had not thought about that question with the intensity with which it was asked…
Read More

What I’ve Learned so Far…Learning is Fundamental

I am sitting here at my desk on a frigid bright morning, missing a class on Genesis 22 because of car fires and accidents on the highway that takes me out to the seminary.  My brain and my soul are still full from last night's discussion of the Holiness Code and its role in the land promises of the Pentateuch.  And, if I haven't lost you already in the face of this biblical techno-speak, I would point out to you what might not be obvious -- I GRADUATED IN MAY.  WHY AM I TAKING TWO BIBLICAL STUDIES CLASSES? Because, my friends, over the past months, I have understood some important…
Read More

A Tale of the Other (Part 2)…

Yesterday we wrapped up our sermon series on the "Men of Judges" with a most amazing talk by our beloved Allyson Robinson.  If you were not there, you should read it/listen to it here, because you will never hear a more eloquent and to the point summation of why we as Christians have an obligation to study and know all the stories of the Bible, including ones as awful as that of the Benjamanite bachelors in Judges 19. And even though I put down the book of Judges a week ago to move on to other studies, some thoughts left over my own storytelling have remained.  You see, one of…
Read More

A Tale of the Other

So today we continue talking about the men of Judges and we ponder the question: why should we read these stories and what might they say to us today. We've heard about Gideon, Samson, Ehud and Jephtha…but you might have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to talk about the “men of Judges” without talking about “the women” around them…Samson AND Dalila, Jephtha AND his daughter… My assignment for today is to talk about Sisera—Sisera, who is not a Judge, not even an Israelite.  Sisera was the enemy. Sisera was the oppressor.  Sisera was an outsider. Sisera was the loser.  Sisera gets murdered.  By a woman. There are…
Read More

Other people’s theology…

Reading and commenting on someone else's writing is not always the easiest thing.  But as eternal students of faith, we often face the task of picking up a book or an article, reading it quickly,  analyzing its usefulness, and incorporating the pieces of that message we need for a project or that we need simply to stimulate our own thinking and theological pondering.  And so, in this next writing reflection, I have chosen to read and comment on Chapter Three of our text, We Are Theologians:  Strengthening the People of God, by Frederica Harris Thompsett. I picked this chapter, titled "All Can Be Theologians", because the idea resonated strongly with my…
Read More