It’s not everyday I think of Jon Cryer and George Buttrick at the same time, but I did today. Our associate pastor quoted Buttrick in her sermon this morning as she talked about the Magi: So we may notice here the beckonings of God. Beckoning: it’s a great
To kick off the new year, I want to reach back to words from my friend, David Gentiles. This quote was printed on the order of service at his memorial. It captures his spirit and is worth passing along: Well, I know that when you've been betrayed and
Early in the morning I'm getting on a plane for Austin, Texas to go and both say goodbye to and celebrate the life of my friend David Gentiles. I fly back to Durham early Thursday. As I was trying to find words for my final post of the
I’ve been trying to keep up with the news around the Nigerian man who tried to light some type of explosive on a plane landing in Detroit on Christmas Day. I’ve been trying to keep up mostly because I’m getting on a flight to Austin on Wednesday
Even though I went back to work on the second day of Christmas, I’ve been thinking more about what Christmastide means. Once we get to the manger, it seems, we find it hard to stay for very long. As far as the culture goes, our economy can’t afford
It was some time after seminary my best friend, Burt, got married, and then a few more years before they had a child. I remember calling one day; he answered, saying he was lying on the bed looking at the baby. I asked, “Do you ever look down and say,
I noticed tonight, as we were singing carols in our Christmas Eve service, that our hymnal has five verses to “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” my favorite carol. I find deep comfort in what I have known as the third verse, which I know has been quoted more than
If you want to be in power, you have to have money; if you want to be invited, you have to be somebody; if you want to be in charge, you had better be rich; if you want to be noticed, you’d better know somebody. That’s the way
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. (Luke 2:6 KJV) I first learned the story the same way Linus told it: in language so old that some of the words had been lost or forgotten, others changed. No
I managed to avoid the mall this season until today. I had to go because that’s where the stuff I needed was being kept (Ginger and Jay were going, too), so, as long as we were going, we decided at least part of the afternoon should be spent at
It's late, the dinner shift was busy, and I am missing my friend David. I've turned to music we shared together, particularly Mark Heard and Pierce Pettis. One of Pierce's songs, "I've Got a Hope," keeps circling around. I tried
Last night our little town of Durham lay in the path of a winter storm working it’s way up the East Coast and we got enough snow to make it feel real. Once the ground was covered, I walked out into the street to take a picture of our