Singing Along the Journey

Subversive Light

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

Christmas 9: Light a Candle

If I had to guess, I would say that, if you are a person reading my words right now, you have seen one of the memes floating around the Internet-world this Christmas that featured quotations from Howard Thurman's work.  And I'll be honest -- it was just such a quotation that led me to  Bruce Epperly's The Work of Christmas and that led me to reflect on that work. And because of my fascination with what some might call a theology of light, it was today's focus of reflection that captured my spirit the most: I will light Candles this Christmas; Candles of joy despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair…
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

Feeling subversive today?

Feeling particularly subversive today?  I certainly hope so.  You might wonder just what I'm talking about.  Well, the idea came to me while I was reading a book by Eugene Peterson called The Contemplative Pastor.  I was drawn to his use of the word subversive as a description for the life altering power of faith.  For Peterson, and now for me, every act of faith is an act of subversion, even the quiet ones like prayer:  "Prayer is a subversive activity. It involves a more or less open act of defiance against any claim by the current regime....[As we pray,] slowly but surely, not culture, not family, not government, not job,…
Read More

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation…

Gaudate Sunday...today is an  important anniversary for me.  Six years ago this very morning, around 11:10 a.m., I was baptized for a second time in my adult life.  That day in December was, like today, the third Sunday of Advent, also in the Lectionary cycle Year C.  That day in December, I joined the Calvary Baptist Church and embraced a form of Christian and community identity based in the Baptist distinctives,  a group of beliefs about individual and community practice  that is best described by the charter covenant of the Alliance of Baptists.  It has been the lens through which I have understood my life in Christ for almost ten years now,…
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

Christmas 9: Light a Candle

If I had to guess, I would say that, if you are a person reading my words right now, you have seen one of the memes floating around the Internet-world this Christmas that featured quotations from Howard Thurman's work.  And I'll be honest -- it was just such a quotation that led me to  Bruce Epperly's The Work of Christmas and that led me to reflect on that work. And because of my fascination with what some might call a theology of light, it was today's focus of reflection that captured my spirit the most: I will light Candles this Christmas; Candles of joy despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair…
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

Feeling subversive today?

Feeling particularly subversive today?  I certainly hope so.  You might wonder just what I'm talking about.  Well, the idea came to me while I was reading a book by Eugene Peterson called The Contemplative Pastor.  I was drawn to his use of the word subversive as a description for the life altering power of faith.  For Peterson, and now for me, every act of faith is an act of subversion, even the quiet ones like prayer:  "Prayer is a subversive activity. It involves a more or less open act of defiance against any claim by the current regime....[As we pray,] slowly but surely, not culture, not family, not government, not job,…
Read More

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation…

Gaudate Sunday...today is an  important anniversary for me.  Six years ago this very morning, around 11:10 a.m., I was baptized for a second time in my adult life.  That day in December was, like today, the third Sunday of Advent, also in the Lectionary cycle Year C.  That day in December, I joined the Calvary Baptist Church and embraced a form of Christian and community identity based in the Baptist distinctives,  a group of beliefs about individual and community practice  that is best described by the charter covenant of the Alliance of Baptists.  It has been the lens through which I have understood my life in Christ for almost ten years now,…
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

Christmas 9: Light a Candle

If I had to guess, I would say that, if you are a person reading my words right now, you have seen one of the memes floating around the Internet-world this Christmas that featured quotations from Howard Thurman's work.  And I'll be honest -- it was just such a quotation that led me to  Bruce Epperly's The Work of Christmas and that led me to reflect on that work. And because of my fascination with what some might call a theology of light, it was today's focus of reflection that captured my spirit the most: I will light Candles this Christmas; Candles of joy despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair…
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

Feeling subversive today?

Feeling particularly subversive today?  I certainly hope so.  You might wonder just what I'm talking about.  Well, the idea came to me while I was reading a book by Eugene Peterson called The Contemplative Pastor.  I was drawn to his use of the word subversive as a description for the life altering power of faith.  For Peterson, and now for me, every act of faith is an act of subversion, even the quiet ones like prayer:  "Prayer is a subversive activity. It involves a more or less open act of defiance against any claim by the current regime....[As we pray,] slowly but surely, not culture, not family, not government, not job,…
Read More

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation…

Gaudate Sunday...today is an  important anniversary for me.  Six years ago this very morning, around 11:10 a.m., I was baptized for a second time in my adult life.  That day in December was, like today, the third Sunday of Advent, also in the Lectionary cycle Year C.  That day in December, I joined the Calvary Baptist Church and embraced a form of Christian and community identity based in the Baptist distinctives,  a group of beliefs about individual and community practice  that is best described by the charter covenant of the Alliance of Baptists.  It has been the lens through which I have understood my life in Christ for almost ten years now,…
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

Christmas 9: Light a Candle

If I had to guess, I would say that, if you are a person reading my words right now, you have seen one of the memes floating around the Internet-world this Christmas that featured quotations from Howard Thurman's work.  And I'll be honest -- it was just such a quotation that led me to  Bruce Epperly's The Work of Christmas and that led me to reflect on that work. And because of my fascination with what some might call a theology of light, it was today's focus of reflection that captured my spirit the most: I will light Candles this Christmas; Candles of joy despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair…
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

Feeling subversive today?

Feeling particularly subversive today?  I certainly hope so.  You might wonder just what I'm talking about.  Well, the idea came to me while I was reading a book by Eugene Peterson called The Contemplative Pastor.  I was drawn to his use of the word subversive as a description for the life altering power of faith.  For Peterson, and now for me, every act of faith is an act of subversion, even the quiet ones like prayer:  "Prayer is a subversive activity. It involves a more or less open act of defiance against any claim by the current regime....[As we pray,] slowly but surely, not culture, not family, not government, not job,…
Read More

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation…

Gaudate Sunday...today is an  important anniversary for me.  Six years ago this very morning, around 11:10 a.m., I was baptized for a second time in my adult life.  That day in December was, like today, the third Sunday of Advent, also in the Lectionary cycle Year C.  That day in December, I joined the Calvary Baptist Church and embraced a form of Christian and community identity based in the Baptist distinctives,  a group of beliefs about individual and community practice  that is best described by the charter covenant of the Alliance of Baptists.  It has been the lens through which I have understood my life in Christ for almost ten years now,…
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

Christmas 9: Light a Candle

If I had to guess, I would say that, if you are a person reading my words right now, you have seen one of the memes floating around the Internet-world this Christmas that featured quotations from Howard Thurman's work.  And I'll be honest -- it was just such a quotation that led me to  Bruce Epperly's The Work of Christmas and that led me to reflect on that work. And because of my fascination with what some might call a theology of light, it was today's focus of reflection that captured my spirit the most: I will light Candles this Christmas; Candles of joy despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair…
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

Feeling subversive today?

Feeling particularly subversive today?  I certainly hope so.  You might wonder just what I'm talking about.  Well, the idea came to me while I was reading a book by Eugene Peterson called The Contemplative Pastor.  I was drawn to his use of the word subversive as a description for the life altering power of faith.  For Peterson, and now for me, every act of faith is an act of subversion, even the quiet ones like prayer:  "Prayer is a subversive activity. It involves a more or less open act of defiance against any claim by the current regime....[As we pray,] slowly but surely, not culture, not family, not government, not job,…
Read More

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation…

Gaudate Sunday...today is an  important anniversary for me.  Six years ago this very morning, around 11:10 a.m., I was baptized for a second time in my adult life.  That day in December was, like today, the third Sunday of Advent, also in the Lectionary cycle Year C.  That day in December, I joined the Calvary Baptist Church and embraced a form of Christian and community identity based in the Baptist distinctives,  a group of beliefs about individual and community practice  that is best described by the charter covenant of the Alliance of Baptists.  It has been the lens through which I have understood my life in Christ for almost ten years now,…
Read More