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Monthly Archives: November 2008
Extreme Makeover Gingerbread Edition
Serious gingerbread building going on in the church kitchen this weekend.
Silly Pastor
If you think you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. (1 Corinthians 3.18 NRSV) The Bible often exhorts us, “Be wise, not foolish.” St. Paul subverts traditional wisdom and says, “Be … Continue reading
Custard and Fried Apples
Songbird and her daughter made custard together in their kitchen. Dinner was going to be pizza, and they needed something for dessert. The making, and the reflecting on the making, reminded her of a time 22 years ago when her … Continue reading
Sylvia and the Universe
My wife and I deliver Meals on Wheels once a month. Route D, our preference, takes us through the north part of town delivering a dozen meals. Judging from the number of other drivers, there must be at least a … Continue reading
Multicolored Light
Bob Cornwall disputes those who claim that someone cannot be a Christian apart from adherence to the Nicene Creed. He believes love of God and neighbor alone marks the Christian faith. Love, not a creed, distinguishes the Christian. Cornwall belongs to … Continue reading
Socrates at Prayer
When I lie in bed in the mornings before rising, I take a moment to breathe in divine love and visualize divine light enfolding me. I thank God for the day to come. I also move my right arm slightly, … Continue reading
Schizophrenic Advent
Advent begins soon, and the liturgical year will start anew. The word derives from the Latin adventus, meaning arrival or approach. In the church year Advent offers a time to anticipate the coming of the Lord, and lectionary readings from … Continue reading
Tom Bandy In Nirvanaland
Eight people from my church attended a seminar yesterday by Tom Bandy, a church consultant and organizational theorist. He urged us to abandon committees and programs and create ministry teams engaged in more spontaneous forms of mission. “Move from the solid … Continue reading
Sunday Morning Rituals
I was at the donut shop last Sunday morning, getting a quota of sugar and caffeine to perk up for church. A man ahead in line ordered a large cup of coffee. He told the cashier he was headed to … Continue reading
A Short Review of The Shack
A parishioner asked me to read The Shack and offer an opinion on it. This book is strange, beautiful and hard to categorize. It’s like the Catholic mystics meet CSI. The plot is simple: a vision of God heals a … Continue reading
GM and Darwin
General Motors looks to go bankrupt soon, apart from a government loan, and other Detroit automakers are limping not far behind. Outside Michigan there is hostility to an intervention. An Alabama senator scorned the loan — foreign auto plants in … Continue reading
Wealth and Its Discontents
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager ends with this admonition from Jesus: And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. (Luke … Continue reading
Geese and Sharks
I watched a flock of geese in a loose V-formation fly over the church at dusk, heading for warmer climates, like the ‘snowbirds’ in my congregation who leave Michigan for the winter months. And I read of a gathering of … Continue reading
Farting In the Sanctuary
I took the confirmation students on a tour of the church building yesterday. We walked through the Memorial Garden and noted the bronze plaques on the wall listing those whose ashes are buried there. Their eyes grew wide when they … Continue reading
Iron Out the Wrinkles
I ironed out wrinkles on a blue sweater this morning. It had sat in a drawer since last winter. Our orange kitten Jane eyed the ironing board but didn’t jump on it. Perhaps she’s finally developing a sense of danger. … Continue reading
Flying
A sadness has settled in on me. I know too many who are suffering ‘in mind, body and estate.’ Their pain, struggles and discouragement seep into me. There was one sign of hope today. A stained-glass wall hanging at the … Continue reading
On a Quest
In today’s Gospel reading large crowds are following Jesus, but he attempts to discourage them from becoming disciples. They must give up family claims, he says, and even a claim to life itself. To impress the point he uses images … Continue reading
Clara’s Bicycle
Clara bought a bicycle for $30 in 1937, paying 50 cents a week on a payment plan. She rode it to her job at a locksmith’s shop on Michigan Street from 1942 to 1946 because her family didn’t own a … Continue reading
Mystic Forces
Donn Ring walked along the Pacific coast, photographing rock formations amid the surf, and had a mystical experience: In the assaulting storm and surge of tide I felt nature’s blunt bone and blood reality, the ebb and flow of tangled … Continue reading →