Love will show the way
On one day in 2013, I walked across a bridge. The sun shone down from a bleached blue sky. The air was cool, but our spirits don't notice, as we stand and sing under the sign, Edmund Pettus Bridge. We…
Kind hearts come alive
“I wish I read your Sabbath Moment before my meeting,” my friend, a hospice chaplain, tells me. “I was just with my hospice supervisor. Her question to me, ‘What are your long term goals?’”“I wanted to laugh out loud,” she…
The light still shines
Have you ever thrown your hands up into the air, and shouted to no one in particular, “Enough already, I’m tired!”I have. And when these moments detonate, I scurry (on cue) down a rabbit trail of distraction, bristling and affronted,…
Grounding power of kindness
The cacophony in our world can be very loud. There is no argument about that.And, if we’re at all insecure about our status (our wellbeing), we are susceptible to (blinded by) public opinion, social media pressure and mob mentality. Bluntly,…
We are wounded healers
This weekend, we remember 9/11, the day our world shifted. I’ve been reading stories today, of loss and remembrance and honor.And a reminder that some days, we wake up in a world that is not a friend of grace. At…
Reconnecting with our heart
In the movie Walk the Line, Johnny Cash auditions for Sam Phillips. He is hoping for a record deal. He is playing an uninspired and insipid version of a gospel hymn.And Phillips tells him no.When Cash demands a reason, Phillips…
Human world of helping
Always try to leave people better than you found them. Hug the hurt. Kiss the broken. Befriend the lost. Love the lonely.I want to live in that kind of world.But this is my confession: some days (well, too many days),…
We make a difference
On this holiday weekend, many of our fellow citizens are hurting, and don’t feel at all united. And as they look ahead, they don’t feel hopeful.I know when I try to make sense of this weight, I can feel powerless,…
In the shelter of each other
Dear God, in a world filled with ceaseless motion, help me to find and practice balance. Give me the strength to not put on blinders to all that is hurtful and wrong in the world. Instead, let me make a…
Reset on making a difference
The geese don’t celebrate Father’s Day, but that didn’t stop me from telling them a story about my Dad. It’s a story I’ve told a few times over the years. (An occupational hazard for we clergy; every good story we…
