So, have you been reading the news reports about the effect cell phone conversations have on people driving vehicles? Their accident rate is the same as someone driving drunk. There is no difference in the accident rates between drivers talking on “hand-held” and “hands free” phones — because what causes the accidents is [...]
Don’t Do It!
Getting Away
In my daily prayer these days, I’m praying for my staff colleague, Robin, down in New Orleans with our youth at the ELCA National Youth Gathering. (Have you been checking her daily posts — with great pictures of our kids — on her “Director’s Blog?” Click “Youth” and then click on her blog.)
And I’m praying [...]
This Is Biblical
Each day is a gift rom God. We are to respond in ways that are pleasing to God.
What pleases God? It is when we live in this way: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love [...]
The Beauty of Ordinariness
One of the (many) joys of reading the Richmond Times-Dispatch is the fact that they carry Garrison Keilor’s weekly column. The gospel writers have nothing on Garrison, when it comes to insights on human nature.
Today’s column is especially delicious! It was inspired by his musings after listening to the gospel story read in [...]
“Shuffle Songs”
I love the “shuffle songs” feature on my iPod. This morning it gave me (in order) The Paul Winter Consort; The Rolling Stones; Robin and Linda Williams; Bruce; Bill and Pam Gurley; the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, playing Mozart; The Duke Ellington Orchestra; Bruce (again!); The Pretenders; Frank Sinatra with The Count Basie Orchestra; Joe Lovano; [...]
“On The Journey” Small Groups
We are on the journey of faith, in community, encouraging each other, stimulating and provoking each other, even carrying each other (at times, that is necessary).
I have a dream for our congregation: that we will have a number of “On The Journey” small groups meeting at various times during the week, led by different [...]
A Poignant Piece
I was moved by this article, in this morning’s New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/us/politics/13palin.html?_r=1&hp
It’s a history of the events leading up to Sarah Palin’s “surprise” resignation. It’s a poignant piece, with two story lines: the destructive pressures of our contemporary polarized, “gotcha” politics; and (to use a baseball analogy) what often happens when a young “phenom” is [...]
30 Years
I was ordained a Lutheran pastor 30 years ago today. I’ve been thinking about that a lot. What changes there have been!
For instance, The ordination took place on a July afternoon, in an un-air conditioned church. (That wasn’t so much a problem back then. People weren’t yet addicted to interior climate control. They expected to be [...]
“In Search Of Dignity”
I won’t claim that David Brooks read my sermon from this past Sunday (available elsewhere on this web site), but, in this morning’s column, he sure hits some of the same themes, from his perspective as a political commentator.
The column is entitled, “In Search of Dignity.”
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: July 6, 2009
When George Washington was a [...]
Why Is This Guy A Hero?
I don’t get it. Why is this guy welcomed back as a hero?
Manny Ramirez is the only one who’s been welcomed back after being found to have taken steroids. All the others — players such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Raphael Palmiero, Mark McGuire — in other words, the greatest players of the [...]
Latest Sermons
- Please click on sermons under "Pastor" () on March 11, 2010.
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- Spiritual Nourishment at a Council Meeting March 10, 2010Faith formation is the aim of everything we do as a congregation — every worship service, every study group, every children’s class, even every meeting! Yes, even meetings are sources of spiritual nourishment — when we’re attentive to God’s presence with us; aware that the work we are to be about is God’s work; discerning how [...] […]Pastor
- Word Play March 10, 2010A.) Out on my early morning bike ride, I saw this saying on a car license plate: Y Tax Is this driver protesting all taxes, or just the personal property tax? If I ever see that car in a parking lot, I think I’ll put this note under the windshield wiper: Y tax? 2 repair the roads u drive ur [...] […]Pastor
- Out Like A Lamb? March 8, 2010Robin and Linda Williams are a husband-wife folk singing duo who live outside Staunton, Virginia. Patty and I have seen them in concert six or seven times. (They usually play with two other musicians, a bass player and a mandolin player, who they call their “Fine Band.”) In one of my favorite Robin and [...] […]Pastor
- When the time is right… March 5, 2010During an April, 2002 visit to the Strand book store in New York City, I bought Walking the Bible, by Bruce Feiler. I had heard that it was good, and I thought I should buy it, because I should read it. (The bonus was that the book was on one of the countless remainders tables [...] […]Pastor
- Shuffling Along March 3, 2010I’ve been having a terrible time sleeping. You know, the basic stuff: awake in the middle of the night with the old confusion – forgetting that I’m not the Creator; I’m only the creature; and so I can’t “fix things”; I can only do the work God gives me to do; and so why am I [...] […]Pastor
- Could this be a new avenue for Christian civic participation? March 2, 2010I love this revision of the current populist mood! Could there be promise in this, for Christian civic participation? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/us/politics/02coffee.html?ref=todayspaper […]Pastor
- Giving Thanks for the Blessings of this Day … March 1, 2010… and praying for those who are suffering. I was moved by this picture of two Chilean women, with their children, at dawn. They are just outside of their houses, which were near the epicenter of the earthquake. All night, sitting up, worried about aftershocks and without shelter. And for a current report on the complete breakdown [...] […]Pastor
- The Lunar Phase February 27, 2010Last night, up for a “body break” in the middle of the night, I noticed how bright the light was outside. A full moon! That means Easter is only one lunar cycle away — since, of course, Easter is the first Sunday affter the first full moon following the Vernal Equinox. (Of course! You knew that, [...] […]Pastor
- Two colds in one season! February 26, 2010I never catch a cold! Well, that’s been true in past years. This week, I’ve been socked in by a terrible cold; the second one I’ve had in three months! (The first hit me at the end of Advent, and I simply had to keep going, or so I assumed in my [...] […]Pastor
- Rain is wonderful February 25, 2010I made an extravagent purchase a couple of months ago: a Bose “Soundlink” system. The system includes a plug-in to a computer’s USB port. When I go to a radio station’s internet site and click on its live stream, the plug-in becomes a transmitter, sending the signal to a portable speaker with incredible sound. I [...] […]Pastor
- Spiritual Nourishment at a Council Meeting March 10, 2010
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- Spiritual Nourishment at a Council Meeting
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- Out Like A Lamb?
- When the time is right…
- Shuffling Along
- Could this be a new avenue for Christian civic participation?
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- The Lunar Phase
- Two colds in one season!
- Rain is wonderful
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