Ginger had a chance to go to Big Tent Christianity in Raleigh this past week. I didn’t get to go, but got to hear some great stuff second hand. Tonight’s sonnet comes from some of those gleanings and the question I am left to ponder: what are the responsibilities of a privileged disciple? Seventeen million…

the dig in the dirtgo to bed tiredspread out the gravelplant the trees and vegetables days the creak in the kneescrust in the knucklescome back in five yearsto see how it all worked out days the plot the resurrectionslam the door opensay thanks for the helpgive thanks for the pups days the listen to the…

I had a church-less weekend since Sunday was my turnto stay at home with Reuben, who is ailing;I planted in the garden and gave the beds a turnWhile he sat and snored and set the “z”s a-sailing. I was not there to stand in line to taste the Bread and Cup,the food that’s fed the…

During the middle of my junior year in high school, my family moved to Houston, Texas and I became a student at Westbury High School. I knew no one in the building and began as a new student in January. It was the worst transition of any of the several transitions I made from school…

In response to today’s Gospel reading, Luke 14:1-14. The parables of Jesus unfold in word and deed:it’s the living, breathing stuff of Incarnation;the healing of a blind man, the sower sowing seedtell the story of the Spirit’s provocation. He healed someone on the Sabbath and then told a simple taleOf a banquet with the seating…

The opening line of this poem was the closing line of our call to worship this morning, and it gave me the idea for a rather ambitious poetic undertaking over the next couple of months: the Sunday Sonnets. You might think of it as my attempt to have Shakespeare meet the Psalms. Sunday Sonnet #1…

Since the early days of this blog, I’ve kept a counter to see how many folks clicked in, thanks to Stat Counter. I had not used the service long before I found they also had a map showing me where folks were when they clicked. Almost every week, there has been someone in Azerbaijan who…

In the middle of these dog days of summer, several tunes have found their way to me and are worth passing along. Let’s start off with a little blues: Eric Bibb singing “Don’t Let Nobody Drag Your Spirits Down.” Thanks to my friends at eMusic (if you decide to sign up, tell them I sent…

This has been a weekend steeped in stories. Saturday night Ginger and I participated in the Inaugural Triangle Red Sox Nation Whiffle Ball Homerun Derby, which was a fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund, one of the Red Sox primary charities. I took my swings, hit four homers, won two pounds of coffee at the bean…