It’s weird right. I mean, here we are entering into the most important time in the Christian calendar and it just doesn’t feel right. There was no procession of children waving palm branches on Sunday. There is no preparation for foot washing, communion, stations of the cross, Tenebrae, or even Easter Sunrise services. Although, we…
Tag: life
the norm
In the introduction to Walden in an essay entitled Economy, Henry David Thoreau writes, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” In the 1850s Thoreau felt the need to escape life and run away to the woods because he felt that everyday existence had become so…
extracurricular
Growing up in a relatively small town meant that life always seemed to have a rhythm. Your school year would flow in it’s given way. And then school would let out and that meant it was time for little league baseball. Of course, the only thing outstanding about my short-lived baseball career was my incredible…
week after week
Tuesday morning I engaged in one of my yearly rituals; Easter clean-up. You see, for most pastors, Holy Week is the busiest week of your entire church year. There are extra services, extra practices and Easter Sunday itself is often composed of different elements than one would traditionally have on any other Sunday. So by…
death to me
The month of my birth isn’t the most glamorous of months. Sure February has Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day and my birthday, but I think all those things are there to distract us from February itself. And this month was always much more difficult when I lived in the great white north of Michigan….
modeled
This last evening I got to witness something pretty spectacular. The school our two older children attend was hosting an open house and so we joined the throngs of parents navigating the hallways and classrooms to learn all about what are kids do for the hours they are away from us each day. We were…
mispackaged
It seems to me that “we the church” have an issue. Now when I say we, I am not simply referring to a local congregation, but to the church as a whole. And perhaps to specify a little more, I probably mean the western church. It seems we have mishandled things a bit. You see,…
love loosely
This morning I said goodbye to my wife for a few days and watched her drive away to the airport that will wing her away to Atlanta for some time with her mother.* I never really like being apart from my spouse…in fact I hate it. The house feels different, I don’t sleep that great…
making space
In the beginning… These are words that spark a variety of responses from different folks. Some might hear the beginning of a story. Others might think about their family and how it started. For those of the Judaeo-Christian camp we know where this phrase leads, “…God created the heavens and the earth.” But sometimes we…
not so blind
It’s funny sometimes how ideas come to me for my blog. It can happen while teaching students. Sometimes I am playing with my kids and I have one of those aha moments. Or sometimes the ideas come to me while I am deep in thought early in the morning…hey, it happens. But this one happened…
