Beloveds, A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead what she considered to be the first sign that a culture had become civilized. You might rightly think that it would be something like a tool for sowing seed, or a fishhook, but Mead replied that it was a healed femur bone. A break in that mighty … Continue reading Hart to Hearts for March 25, 2020
There are lessons that we have to learn over and over again. Many of them aren’t all that hard, but they don’t take the first, second or seventh or eighth time. Some of those lessons we never get completely right, or forget too easily and shake our heads when we learn them again and again. … Continue reading Abundance and Generosity: A Homily
I served a congregation in Woodstock, Vermont back in the mid-1990s. I learned about winter weather. And a LOT about snow. It might have been the first time we had a big snow that I decided to not preach the sermon that I had planned, but rather to offer the few people who arrived — … Continue reading Snow-zilla!
At the Ministers Professional Days I attended this last week, our conversations and our worship were filled with exclamations of exhaustion and the wish for words of hope and reassurance for us to offer to the folks in our congregations. To be honest, most of us wanted those words for ourselves, for our broken hearts … Continue reading Our Chance
Back in the years when I was in seminary, I heard a story about a colleague of one of the large churches. He had been a successful minister, but knew a lot of grief and loss in his life. One teenaged child had drown when the family was on vacation some years before. At the … Continue reading These Are the Best
“You should say something about that school shooting!” my internal voice scolded. “It’s horrible and people are hurting!” Ministers often face this kind of situation. Shocked and feeling more numb than in pain, I had no words to say, nothing to write, no wise proclamations, nothing of comfort to offer. The sentences that formed in … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Broken Hearts
I know this will come as a big shock to most of you, but not everything you read on the internet is true. As I begin the long journey of treatment for cancer, I’m discovering again the level of wild tales that out there. “The TRUTH about CANCER,” an article screams. “What doctors don’t want … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Miracle Cures
Back in the 1990s when I worked for the Night Ministry, we held an annual Christmas dinner. It took place in the basement of a nearby Presbyterian church, and it was a grand event. Churches donated cooked turkeys, buckets of mashed potatoes and stuffing, gallons of cranberry sauce, and enough pies to stack to the … Continue reading The Work of Christmas
The rally was going to be held at Chinese Reconciliation Park. I was dressed in black and sporting my bright yellow Standing on the Side of Love stole, so I stood out in the crowd. The organizers I asked if I’d be able to open the rally. “Say a few words to begin,” they invited, … Continue reading Keeping On
I’ve said more times than I can remember that it’s been a year of trouble and turmoil. Maybe it has something to do with the way social media shapes our lives, the constant blare of the 24 hour news cycle, and the if-it-bleeds-it-leads nature of news reporting. This week or so has seemed especially filled … Continue reading Joy and Woe Are Woven Fine
