Words are remarkable.  They can communicate innumerable ideas. They can share stories.  They can paint pictures in our imagination.  They can challenge.  They can comfort. Christian Wima notes that wo...  Read More

In her dark, ironic, and compelling short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” Flannery O’Conner tells of a grandmother who is prideful, superficial, self-important, and judgmental on her best days.  ...  Read More

Around this time four years ago I was deemed “ordination ready”. That meant that I had completed my exams, completed necessary internships and hospital chaplaincy requirements, and I was examined by t...  Read More

In the American version of the sitcom The Office there is a scene when Michael and Dwight are driving somewhere and they are using GPS to guide them.  At one point, with Michael behind the wheel, the ...  Read More

Once upon a time in a village there was a longstanding rumor of the existence of the most enchanted garden in all the world.  There were endless stories of its grandeur.  Purportedly, the flowers bloo...  Read More

My friend, Chandler Stokes, once shared this story with me of his childhood Thanksgivings.  It speaks eloquently to Peter’s vision and to the nature of World Communion Sunday.  He writes, “Rhode Islan...  Read More

On the Road there was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the stars...” “Sal, we gotta go and never stop going 'till we get there.''Where we going, man?''I don't know but we gotta go.”  “...  Read More

Helping people in need is a way of life for Shari Klein. Shari’s parents were very caring, and she saw them demonstrate this almost daily. “They brought many kids from a local orphanage to our home fo...  Read More

When I made the decision to leave my first call, my first job as a pastor, I thought I was done. It was clear that the church and I were not compatible in vital ways, and it was what I call a “broken ...  Read More

Every scar tells a story.  I have a scar on my thigh from a Boy Scout, bushwhacking camping trip that involved a very large buck knife. I remember being taken to a rural emergency room. While the doct...  Read More

Forgive me if the start of this sermon hearkens back to your English Lit course in college.  The poem, “my dream, my works, must wait till after hell,” on the cover of our bulletin this morning is des...  Read More

I am an only child.  This means I did not grow up with the wrangling that often occurs between siblings as everyone is measuring to make sure they get their fair share.  Perhaps that is why I am fasci...  Read More