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Monthly Archives: March 2009
A Global Warming Skeptic
This essay is about Freeman Dyson, the 85-year-old Princeton physicist and mathematician, known lately for his skepticism about global warming. He also doubts string theory. Here is how a colleague describes him: Around the Institute for Advanced Study, that intellectual … Continue reading
Posted in Aging, Science
2 Comments
Draped In Black
Yesterday our church’s choir, the Wesley Chorale, performed Harvest of Sorrows, a cantata by Joseph M. Martin. Chorus, soloists and narrators told the story of Christ’s passion in Jerusalem. More than one choir member was visibly moved in the telling. … Continue reading
Meals On Wheels and Diane Rehm
I delivered Meals On Wheels today, the fourth time this week. My wife’s church volunteered for this week, and I’ve been helping out. We go over to the Adrian Senior Center on Frank St, a building that was a Catholic … Continue reading
Posted in Daily Life
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Divine Conspiracy 6
In chapter 6 of The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard addresses ‘the deceptions of reputation and wealth,’ looking at Matthew 6 where Jesus questions religious practices done for show and advocates detachment from mammon, an old word for wealth. The key … Continue reading
Dealing With Dementia
Today I drove thirty miles to the Chelsea Retirement Community for a seminar on dementia led by a researcher at the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Ann Arbor. He invited us to call him Dr. Bruno. His presentation taught … Continue reading
Posted in Health
4 Comments
The Importance of Play Time
I skipped out of traditional worship two Sundays ago and joined the children for an hour of Sunday school. (Our traditional service and Sunday school run concurrently.) The theme of the day was prayer, and the children learned how to … Continue reading
Posted in Children, Church
7 Comments
Physics Says Life Isn’t a Story
Contemporary physics undermines two common notions about how the world works. So say David Z. Albert and Rivka Galchen. First, experience tells us that for one thing to influence another, it must be in proximity to it. I can throw a rock … Continue reading
Posted in Nature, Philosophy
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Saturdays At the Office
Friday is my day off (apart from funerals and hospital visits). I usually spend most of Saturday at the office. The To Do list includes Talk through sermon outline four or five times. Prepare Powerpoint slides for traditional and praise … Continue reading
Posted in Church
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Dirt Worship
On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. (Psalm 145.5 NRSV) Last night my wife and I stopped at Meijer to pick up a new microwave oven. The Litton she’s had for 23 … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
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Divine Conspiracy 5
I’m reading Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy as a Lenten discipline. In chapter 5 he presents his understanding of Matthew 5:17-48. (It appears the central chapters of this book are an exposition of the Sermon On the Mount.) Willard views … Continue reading
Sermons At the Grocery Store
I work on upcoming sermons at the Country Market deli area, unusually empty in this picture. Dan Moseley, my preaching professor at CTS, said a sermon that doesn’t make it out of the pastor’s study won’t make it out of … Continue reading
A Problem With the NRSV
At a monthly ministers meeting last week, representatives from a local literacy initiative offered a presentation on their work, which teaches reading skills to first and second language English speakers. Their stories were so touching, like a man who grew … Continue reading
Diogenes Allen On the Afterlife
Recent posts have touched on the issue of life after death. It’s fitting, then, to include a quote that has informed my understanding and beliefs about this. I studied the writings of Diogenes Allen for my Doctor of Ministry project, … Continue reading
Do Pets Go to Heaven?
Martha Hoverson, a pastor in Portland, Maine, lost her beloved dog Molly last month. Molly was Martha’s ‘partner in ministry,’ rehearsing with the choir, going along on nursing home visits and embodying the universal love of God. She writes about … Continue reading
Half Dead Man Walking
I love to walk in Oakwood Cemetery. Addison and Sarah Comstock, the founders of Adrian, are buried there, as is Michigan governor Charles Croswell. Sarah Comstock named our city. She was reading a history of the Roman Empire, and the … Continue reading
Believe In the Best Version of Yourself
On CSI New York Wednesday night, the main story line explored an act of eco-terrorism. The alternate story line featured Danny and Lindsay, two crime scene investigators in the lab. They’ve been the focus of some serious Urst in the … Continue reading
Lenten Reading
Here are 33 Lenten meditations from the CC Blogs network. Enjoy. Don’t Eat Alone The Connection Pastor’s Post Faith at Ease Holy Vignettes I-YOUniverse Where the Wind As the Deer The Other Jesus Mark Powell Getting There Ellen Haroutunian Theolog … Continue reading
Posted in Church
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A Bug’s Life
At the Coalition for Older Adults meeting Tuesday, I watched a bug crawl up the wall on the other side of the room. It made slow progress until it reached the line where the wall meets the ceiling, then it … Continue reading
Posted in Nature, Philosophy
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Kiss Your Bleeding Feet
On Sunday I preached on the theme of passionate worship, the second of Bishop Robert Schnase’s Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. The scripture I chose was John 20.24-29. Jesus shows his wounds to Thomas, who cries out, “My Lord and … Continue reading
Posted in Christ, Sermons
3 Comments
Six Ways To Ease Sadness
Scientific American reports on University of Pittsburgh research that says cheerful women live longer: Women who were most cheery were 30 percent less likely to die of heart disease and 14 percent less likely than their pessimistic peers to die … Continue reading
Posted in Emotions, Spiritual Practices
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