A Litany
from Brennan Manning O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me. Deliver me, Jesus, from the desire of being loved, from the desire of being extolled, from the desire of being honored, from the desire of being praised, from…
When I Die: Interpretation
Since a few people have described my last post as bizarre (in fact, one commenter was writing that very word into a comment as I was typing this sentence), I thought an explanation might be in order. The previous post…
When I Die
When I die in that car crash, I want you to erect one of those roadside memorials with the white cross and flowers, making people wonder if perhaps the coroner came on the scene and found me in such bad…
At Just the Right Time
I didn’t know the ultrasound tech wanted to do “a look around” before zeroing in on the baby. The last time we were in that room it was because the OB couldn’t hear the heartbeat on the handheld monitor at…
Getting Back on the Horse
The window of my study at the church looks right out at the entrance to our parking lot. It connects us to a two lane country highway that is fairly busy. Our location is just outside of town and not…
Pastors of the Scattered Flock
We recently finished watching The War, a Ken Burns documentary that is about as long as World War II itself was. The sheer number of people killed was unimaginable. An estimated 50-60 million worldwide lost their lives. The economics of…
Meaningless
The book of Ecclesiastes is dangerous. Ancient Rabbis worried that, even though they believed it to be inspired scripture, the book could be misinterpreted and “cause an inclination to heresy.” Christians disagree on how to interpret passages of scripture, of…
Frugality and Grace
You probably know the stories, having heard them growing up. About how everyone on the farm worked, about how the Native Americans used every part of the buffalo, about how scrap drives helped win The War. Relics of a natural…
Ambivalent Love
A friend sent me a song by The Civil Wars a few years ago, and quite stupidly I didn’t pay any attention. A few years later, another chance came along and I was hooked. Now, I have to force myself…
What I Learned: Growing a Beard
I grew a beard because my sister has cancer. If it isn’t obvious to you how those are connected, then you will not be surprised to learn that The Great Beard Project of 2011 has come to an end. Here’s…
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