A pastor I spoke with recently confessed his uncertainty about the future.  Having worked in the ministry for 40 years, he wonders about what the coming years hold. After we met I thought about how so many universal fears, including fear of the unknown future, are so obvious in the Christmas story. Take theContinue reading "During Christmas our universal fears can give way to trust"

For centuries the Church has set apart the four weeks prior to Christmas to celebrate Advent.  The faithful watch for the coming of Jesus. It's a 3-fold coming: We watch for the coming of the Christ child -- the Incarnation. "When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,Continue reading "Awareness is central to Advent"

This is the week where we stop and give thanks for what we have.  Right? It's a good week for me to take a big breath and give a listen to to these words of I Peter: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of himContinue reading "It’s Thanksgiving Monday & Black Friday is barreling down full bore!"

The rest of the men's soccer season for this Fall (2016) at Harvard University has been cancelled after Harvard's office of general counsel review found that the team continued to produce vulgar and explicit documents rating women on their perceived sexual appeal and physical appearance. The young men on the men's team referred to this practiceContinue reading "Not “locker room talk” at Harvard"

I read faces pretty well.  No, not always, but I watch people's expressions.  You can learn a lot by watching someone's face.  Are they relaxed? Tense?  Confused? Sad?  Nervous? Angry? Resigned? Joyful? Of course, in my ministry with Pastor-to-Pastor Initiatives I meet with lots of pastors during the week.  As I look them in theContinue reading "Reading faces"

In the last few weeks, I've thought a lot about this picture of the dove with an olive branch in its beak. In late August when I was in Israel, I  saw this dove in Bethlehem painted on the dividing wall between Israel and the West Bank.  What makes the painting so stark is thatContinue reading "Practicing a kind of holy ambivalence"

Nearly every single day I meet with a pastor who tells me of an overwhelming challenge.  A sermon needs to be written. The ideas are not coming. ... A parishioner in the hospital is very ill.  ... A leader in the church has a child who is in big, big trouble. There are no goodContinue reading "Always a challenge — one I’m up to"

Is there ever a day when you don't need to be on your knees crying out to the Lord for wisdom?  Here's a situation from my recent travels where I felt a great need for wisdom as I tried to take in and process what I was hearing... Pondering my constant need for wisdom, IContinue reading "When don’t we pray for deep wisdom?"