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…
Just let down your arms
There was a farmer who had a lot of fields, and he kept all the birds and creatures away from his crops with traps and fences. He was very successful. But he was also very lonely. So, one day, he stood…
Life is fragile, grace is real
Today, I’m in Wilmette, IL. Where we gathered with family and friends to remember Robert Boehm, who died too young on September 13. I stand alongside Rabbi Andy Bossov. We cry and laugh and tell stories. Reminded about the fragility…
Take care of one another
This past week, I watched real-time TV images of devastation. Houses and businesses and lives and dreams, decimated. All the while, in awe of the absolute power and unpredictability of nature. And it hits me that we are, every single…
Embrace our brokenness
Two men visiting Hong Kong, noticed the ubiquity of street vendors, all pushing their carts along, pell-mell, in and out of traffic. Attempting to gain the attention of any potential customer, they would shout repeatedly, "Sale! Sale! Good items for sale!" So numerous were these vendors that the men found…
Today, I can make a difference
It is blueberry pancake Sunday. In the kitchen, the young mother works under a deadline and a promise; today before church, blueberry pancakes for her two sons, their favorite breakfast in the whole wide world. The two boys, aged 5 and 7, are…
The world needs healers
For one whole week, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I was without wifi. This is grim. I couldn’t even Google remedies for wifi withdrawal. I am not interested in TV, so was blissfully without the news. Except it’s like going to…
Our better angels
I’m in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with my Father, my son Zach, my brothers and their sons. It’s an all boy vacation summit—10 of us—time to impart wisdom to the young men. Now we need to remember what we wanted to…
Everybody has a hungry heart
Today, I’m in New Mexico, in rare air, one and a half miles higher than my garden on Vashon Island. This morning I preached at United Church of Angel Fire. Our text is from John’s Gospel. Our topic is bread…
I will show up
A father knocks on his son’s bedroom door. "Jaime," he says, "wake up!" "I don’t want to get up, Papa," Jaime answers. “You need to get up,” his father shouts, "you have to go to school." “I don’t want to…
