On a June day in 1944, two weeks after D-Day, a few miles from the bloody shores of Omaha Beach, members of the 404th Fighter Group worked to carve an airstrip out of the Normandy countryside. Their efforts cost the lives of 28 Army…
Let’s talk about trust.There’s a beautiful Irish phrase from West Kerry, “Mo sheasamh ort lá na choise tinne.” It means, “You are the place where I stand on the day when my feet are sore.”That makes my heart smile. But…
Jesus was invited to a party. No surprise there. Jesus was often invited to parties. (Could that be why many people don't understand him very well?) Jesus was partial to dining with "sinners." Which is code for people we label…
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes. Including yourself. (Thank you Anne Lamott.)And yet. We can’t just unplug, can we? Don’t we need a plan of action, a strategy for self-improvement, and targets to…
Two brothers, living on adjoining farms, fell into conflict. In forty years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, providing mutual support and assistance whenever needed, it is their first rift. But it doesn't take much, does it? (“I have…
In the town of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, there is a church named Lagniappe ("lan-yap"). It is an old Creole word that means “something extra”. Pastor Jean Larroux explains, "Down here if you go into a seafood shop and order a pound of shrimp and they put in an extra…
Stories take care of us. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other's memories. (Thank you, Barry Lopez.)And yet. There are some days when we replay only stories that encourage…
I spent this weekend with 39 thousand of my closest friends, in Anaheim California, at the Religious Education Congress. I have been a speaker there for over 30 years.This year, my topic; Permission to be me in a FOMO (fear…
An important and hurried and stressed businessman visits a Zen master, seeking guidance. (It seems that these days, to look important, you have to appear hurried and stressed.) The Zen master sits down, invites the businessman to sit, and pours the visitor a cup of tea. But even…
A woman called her priest. “My Daddy is dying, would you come and pray with my daddy?” She asked.“Yes,” he told her.With the man, the priest noticed a chair pushed tight to the head of the bed.“Has someone been visiting…
