As I was driving to work yesterday, I called Chef because I had a couple of questions. We talked about some of the changes I’ve been making at the restaurant at Duke, and I got to tell her I noticed the check average had gone up a dollar, which means we’re making some progress toward…
You will write about the sermon, right? Maybe on Monday? What it was like to mount the pulpit once again. How long has it been?(Gordon, in a comment on my blog) The last time I preached was October 1, 2006. It was World Communion Sunday, the fifth anniversary of the beginning of our bombing of…
Genesis 12:1-4; John 3:1-17A Sermon for Pilgrim United Church of Christ, Durham It’s written matter of factly in our scripture passage this morning: “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you,” as though God and Abram were having…
Curious George has gone to Africa. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Bush is making a whirlwind tour of The Largely Ignored Continent, visiting countries not in crisis where he can point to what he has done to help them. Yes, my cynical sap is definitely rising. Kofi Annan has been in Kenya for a couple of…
In getting to preach this Sunday, since Ginger is away on our church’s women’s retreat, I’ve been thinking about Abram and Nicodemus, the two stars of the lectionary readings this week, and tonight that’s led me to thinking about invitations. As one who grew up Southern Baptist, invitation is a loaded word, tied to the…
from the beginning, I supposethe point of Lent was to dosomething, or do without,for forty days – but when theystarted counting, they skippedthe Sundays (“Little Easters”)so folks could catch theircollective breaths, or findforgiveness, or just rest. I knew one person whocalled Sundays and Saintdays “windows in Lent,”as though we needed freshair and light to seep…
I had no idea who Barbara Crooker was until a few days ago and now she’s made The Writer’s Almanac twice in the span of a week and her poetry is speaking to me. Here’s the one from yesterday: In The Middle of a life that’s as complicated as everyone else’s,struggling for balance, juggling time.The…
I don’t really understand surly. I get depression because I live with it, but surly – the toxic kind — is a different matter. The two servers who worked tonight, mother and daughter, make a good case for toxic surliness as a psychiatric diagnosis, again, in the same way I needed to see my depression…
It’s far later into the night than I intended to have to stay up to complete my daily practice. The thoughts running through my head are not original; in fact, all I can hear are borrowed words. There’s Barbara Crooker’s poem, “All That Is Glorious Around Us,” featured The Writer’s Almanac last week. Here’s an…
I don’t know where Duke students go on Sunday night, but it’s not to our restaurant. Kyle tells me they realize at some point on Sunday afternoon that they have been partying all weekend and they have class in the morning. Whatever the reason, Ramon and I had a lot of time on our hands….