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Welcome from 
Thanks for stopping in. Pour yourself a cup o' jo, take a load off your feet, and check out what's here. You are looking at my ramblings about issues of faith, life and culture—they are my own and are not necessarily shared by those with whom I work, live or otherwise engage. My journey has led my family and me across the country where I have been introduced to a lot of people and a lot of different ways of doing things. One passion, though, runs through all these experiences: building beloved and sustainable community. "Sustainable" community is kind of a strange notion, as communities (people) change constantly, and things are always in motion. So, the latest chapter of my life has led me to the notion of "impermanence"—not an idea that comes naturally in a culture that likes to build monuments to our greatness for future generations to view and admire. But, I'm trying to practice my awareness of impermanence—the idea that nothing is permanent, nothing is forever, and things are always in flux. Feel free to share your comments and engage in any conversation that may be happening here, but just know that I do reserve the right to delete any spam or anything I deem inappropriate or offensive. I look forward to dialoguing with anyone who cares to dialogue! Peace and blessings, |
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It’s Tuesday of Holy Week. In Mark’s gospel (11.20-13.27) we find Jesus heading into the deep waters of confronting the socio-religious and political powers of Jerusalem. A series of interactions with Pharisees, scribes, and some wealthy Sadducees puts Jesus on the defensive. But he, according to gospel accounts, aptly volleys the threats back into the courts of his opponents and scores several points—all the more reason to kill him! In one Jesus is […] 
Me with Robin Meyers at The Fountains UMC in Fountain Hills, AZ. This weekend I proverbially sat at the feet (actually the back row) of sage writer Robin Meyers, pastor of Mayflower United Church of Christ (not to be confused with the Church of Christ), professor of Philosophy, and author of several books, including Saving Jesus From the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus […] 
Last week I was talking with my friend, the Rev. Wendy Komori-Stager, and she told me about a sermon series she did on the “seven deadly sins.” But instead of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride, she preached on the sins of the fear of scarcity, perfectionism, busyness and the pride in productivity, comparison and self-doubt, and powerlessness. In my mind these lists of sins have more to do with how we live […] 
This book! It’s calling me out onto the mat and is kicking my…you know what. The theological connections to my Christian faith are disturbing. BrenĂ© Brown, in her most recent book on vulnerability, Rising Strong (2015), writes about the power of our egos to “protect” us, but often keep us from dealing with our real hurts. Brown describes our egos as “that part of us that cares about our status and what people think, […] 
I found this quote today in my email inbox: A [person] will be imprisoned in a room with a door that’s unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to [that person] to pull rather than push. -Ludwig Wittgenstein I had to look up Ludwig Wittgenstein. He was an early 20th century Austrian-British philosopher. He suffered severe personal depression after World War I, giving away all his money to his brothers […]
Today’s daily lectionary reading includes Deuteronomy 7.12-16. At first blush it is a frightening expression of God’s vengeance. The term in v. 16, unfortunately translated in the NRSV as “ordinances” and in other versions “laws,” is actually a legal term for “judgments.” The people are called to pay attention or heed God’s judgments, presumably against themselves as well as others given the context. As with any scripture text, it must be read in […] 
At UKIRK Presbyterian Campus Ministry on the Tempe campus of ASU we have begun talking about practices of Christian faith. Last night we talked about different kinds of praying: from the Lord’s Prayer to silence and meditation to even running as prayer. We talked about the five different kinds of prayer often touted by Sunday School teachers and confirmation leaders: praise or adoration, repentance, petition, thanksgiving and intercession (we had trouble remembering them […] 
Over the years I have been told many times that the Church should not engage in politics. However, having read scripture and come to understand our Presbyterian tradition more deeply, I have a hard time understanding how the Church cannot be involved in politics. To be involved in “politicsâ€? (from the Greek word polis, which means “cityâ€?) is to be involved in the shaping and reshaping of the social structures—formal and informal—that govern how we […] |
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