the last one on the plane and he took the last seat between me and the young soldier on his way home the old man had white curls under a pork pie hat, thin black glasses, a white shirt under a tweed sportscoat his pants fastened where waists used to be he aimed his...
Read more →for the chance to return to streets I once knew an opportunity to talk about things that matter to be on the receiving end of unsolicited encouragement for the chance to lose myself in the crust of a tomato tart to find myself serving at someone else’s communion rail and return home with the...
Read more →I have spent the day traveling from Durham to Fort Worth where I am speaking at First United Methodist Church tomorrow. They read my book during Lent and asked me to come and share Communion in worship and dinner tomorrow night. I have spent the evening eating and talking with new friends from the...
Read more →I would love to tell you I had an epiphany in the middle of lent: an earth-shattering, horizon-bending, blaze of understanding and insight that changed everything for me. My day, however, spelled out in much smaller steps, turns of phrase, incremental graces: a call from a friend, homemade marinara, sunshine on my lunch hour....
Read more →there are nights we sit down to dinner because we need to eat. then there are nights — like this — where we sit down together because we need each other long before we even take a bite, feeling as crushed as garlic, hoping to find a taste of the patience that built the...
Read more →When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to...
Read more →I want to listen more than talk tonight. These are songs that continue to speak to me. “Old Friends” by Guy Clark. old friends shine like diamonds old friends you can always call old friends lord you can’t buy ‘em you know it’s old friends after all Don Henley wrote: I’ve been tryin’ to...
Read more →it’s has been grey all day as though dawn never came the early morning haze of mind and matter stayed the afternoon rain fell like a curtain the world played like an empty theater even though we could see each other today has been a series of solo acts or so it seems —...
Read more →Before church this morning, I turned again to Rock of Doubt to see what seeds might get planted on my way to worship. Sydney Carter was writing about the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, particularly about why we go to see movies more than once. I’ve made a point of return viewings of many...
Read more →Yes, I realize there is still two weeks to go until Easter. That said, I would like to share an article I wrote for Christian Reflection, a quarterly published by the Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University. The piece is titled “On Beyond Easter.” Start here and follow the link. ___________________________________________ The morning...
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