Place love at the center
“You look sad.”“I am,” I tell the sheep. “A great man died this week. And I miss him.”“What made him great?” a little one asked.“He made us better people.” I like Andrew Young’s take. John Lewis “didn't convince you by…
Treasure being present
“I talk to people about you, just so you know,” I tell my congregation, the sheep. “I tell them that you all are the picture of serenity and contentment.”There is no affect in their faces. And I thought they’d be…
Safe to come home
Some stories are like restorative prayers. They invite (no, they require) retelling, for the healing of our spirit and our soul.In 1942, the Nazis were actively and forcefully rounding up Jews in France. In the picturesque farming village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (in southern France), Reformed…
Be here now
“I need your help,” I say to my congregation, the sheep, this morning. “Why does it look so easy for you to live so fully in the present moment?”My question is met with blank stares and chewing.Finally, a little one…
Love and stories wouldn’t hurt
“Happy Father’s Day,” I tell the sheep on my walk this morning.“Why do you look tired?” one asks.“I let my spirit get on edge,” I tell them. “There’s so much to do, my world is hungry for people to step…
I am because we are
A young woman with a very serious case of hives went to a specialist for relief. She had suffered for some time, living in continual pain because the hives covered much of her body. She needed healing, and hoped that the…
Carry one another home
On my walk this morning, I stop at the fence. My congregation, the sheep, are reclining contentedly in the grass. “Well,” their look asked me. “Do you have a story this week or not?”“It’s an old story,” I tell them.…
We belong to one another
On my walk this morning, I stop, and stand at the fence. My congregation, the sheep, don’t mind silence, which is nice and different from many churches I have visited. After a while, I tell them, “I need your help.…
Small gestures of grace
Andre Dubus wrote stories about regular people, like bartenders, mechanics, waitresses and the like. In 1986, after publishing several books of short stories, Dubus stopped to help a woman and a man stranded on the side of the highway, and…
Spilling good
“Granma said when you come on something good, first thing to do is share it with whoever you can find; that way, the good spreads out where no telling it will go. Which is right.” (The Education of Little Tree)On…
