Unplugged
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…
Bridges to build
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…
Absorbed in moments of grace
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…
Leave my littleness behind
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…
The Power of Presence
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…
Letting go and gratitude
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…
Heavy dose of grace
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…
Lean in toward the light
“You’re a minister? Well, what do you believe?” Some church people like to ask me. They can’t help themselves.Okay, here you go.God has a heart for those who are left out, forgotten, and excluded.God's grace is bigger than anything which…
Waking up
I flew cross-country this past week. That’s a chunk of hours in a confined space, in seats designed for the undernourished. I’m just sayin’. Across the aisle sit three women, one holding an infant. I catch myself saying a silent…
Everybody hurts
“I’ve lost my way.” One man confesses to his friend. “And it’s not good, because I don’t know how much more I can take." “I understand,” his friend says. “I don’t know what is next, but I think I’m close…
