The text today told the story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus. And here’s where the story took me. When Zacchaeus hit the streets, he had to assumehe was down the list of who folks hoped to see;he might have done much better had he showed up in costume,but for all his faults, he had no…
This week’s parable was the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who came to pray (Luke 18:9-14). I was struck, in the sermon, by the idea that both men missed the mark by clinging so tightly to their view of the world, rather than praying for eyes to see what God might have…
The text today was the parable of the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). The story is not an easy one. One of the main things I took away from this morning was a big part of the call to live like Jesus lies in our persistence. The widow just wouldn’t give up until she got justice….
Today is Blog Action Day. The topic is WATER, namely the lack of safe and sanitary drinking water for a large part of our fellow human beings on the planet. Most of the stuff that has come my way in preparation for today has been overwhelming to me. The statistics are poignant, but also paralyzing….
T. S Eliot’s amazing poem The Waste Land has found me twice in the last few days. First, let me confess. I love the poem and I am moved by the poem, but I am far from understanding it. Still, it keeps coming after me. The first touch was at school, reading Robert Cormier’s novel,…
Today is National Coming Out Day. I thought I would mark the day by reposting something I wrote last year. Though my job has changed, my gratitude has not. Peace,Milton___________________________________________ Part of what makes working in a restaurant kitchen interesting is you never really know who is coming for dinner and when they are planning…
The sermon today was on the ten lepers whom Jesus healed and the one of them who returned to say, “Thanks.” As I thought about the story, I was struck by how much time we who are accustomed to comfort and privilege spend trying to explain pain and suffering, as though they were things other…
I spent the weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains helping with a retreat for Holy Covenant UCC from Charlotte, so I was not at my church for worship or World Wide Communion Sunday. The focus of the retreat was on the Psalms. Nancy Allison, a longtime friend and the pastor at Holy Covenant, pointed out…
I went to a workshop this afternoon at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke because I’m taking my kids there in a couple of weeks to see the exhibit called “The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl.” I have to say I was surprised at how many different ways vinyl records could be made into…
Based on the last few Sundays, today’s text included, you would think Jesus talked a great deal about taking care of the poor. Ginger quoted George Buttrick (“Fundamental neighborliness is a barometer of the soul.”) and then asked these questions: What issues do we dodge? How do we gate ourselves off from the world? Whom…