When a high wire performer at the circus walks daringly out on a line suspended 30 feet above the ground, generally something called a ‘safety net’ is strung between the wire and the floor! It is there to catch her… Continue reading

As I close the season of my life given to pastoral ministry, I am given to reflection about that part of my life.  What does it mean, will it matter? There are markers of worldly success that are easy to… Continue reading

  This Monday morning I want to urge you to find soul strength in beauty. Take some time to appreciate beauty – in music, in the natural world, in the soul of another, in a sunset, in a photograph, a work… Continue reading

A long time ago the teacher’s advice during a gym class baseball game made an impression on me. Never an athlete, I wanted desperately to make a hit. I gripped the bat in grim determination, stared at the pitcher, and… Continue reading

Sean, my son, is planning a trip through Montana and Wyoming this Summer with his family.  He sent me this note -“We are talking about grizzly and moose encounters  … Landon (just finished 1st grade) slaps his face and says,… Continue reading

Today I’ll once again stand in the presence of Death and grief, something I have done almost weekly this year. Grim, you ask? It could be except for the promise and hope I know. Reading in the mind-blowing, strange, and… Continue reading

Eugene Peterson, in his memoirs, The Pastor, tells of the year of no Christmas tree, 1939, when he was 7 years old. His mom, a Christian who pursued a holy life, read an obscure passage in Jeremiah that warned of… Continue reading

In America, where many families live at a distance, loneliness among the aged is an epidemic. Some adult children ‘outgrow’ their parents, move away, and in spite of the many ways to stay connected, become so taken up with their… Continue reading

My 67th trip around the sun started yesterday.  A pandemic and all the accompanying restrictions was part of the last one, making it memorable mostly in an awful way. This year promises more change as I will step away from… Continue reading

Several years ago I attended a seminar for pastors led by an ‘expert’ in stewardship who said that his methods would increase giving at the church by at least 30%. Some of the principles were sound. He told us to… Continue reading