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 January, near a sign that read, “Prayer only No visit. No phone,” I sat and prayed, in Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris.Watching the inferno this past week, my heart hurt. Sometimes we don't have words.I can tell you that I…
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…
Many years ago, I am sitting on the bench in front of Bob’s Bakery with my son Zach (Bob’s is our island Saturday morning gathering spot). We’re having Cinnamon Twists. They are decadently yummy, and make me forget my need…
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…
“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…
The flood was several weeks ago, and I stopped by to see how things were going and went into Sykes' grocery store (Ellen Gilchrist tells her story, just after Katrina). The proprietor told me about filling the sandbags, who all was…
