For a mostly white congregation in the suburbs, we do a pretty good job celebrating Martin Luther King Day. It starts with a breakfast (we had fifty people this year) where we hear excerpts from King’s speeches and writings, and then a worship centered around issues of peace and
Several years ago, I was singing for a church banquet and came to the point in my set where I was going to sing “Angel From Montgomery,” my favorite song. I prefaced the song very simply -- “I relate to this song more than any song I know” -- then
This morning on the TODAY show, they told of an American Airlines flight from hell over New Year’s Weekend. The flight was supposed to go from San Francisco to Dallas: three and a half hours. Because of severe storms in Dallas, the flight was rerouted to Austin, where it
Something in the day lead me to a poem rather than an essay. I'm less confident in my poetry, but it is what I have to offer. Alternate Tuning I’m confused. I don’t understand. I’ve played guitar a long time. But tonight, I’m trying
God called again, "Samuel!"—the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, "Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am." That's when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, "Go back
Naomi Shihab Nye is one of my favorite poets and one of my heroes because of the way she wages peace with words. When I found a book of her poetry I did not have, You & Yours , I whipped out one of my Christmas gift cards and gave it
I opened one of my Christmas presents yesterday. My friend, Lance, gave me a gift certificate to Calabash Music, a global music web site unlike anything I've ever seen (or heard). Here's how they describe themselves: Calabash Music™ is the ultimate global music destination giving easy
There’s the theology you discuss late at night over coffee or beers and then there’s the theology that gets lived out. The challenge, for me, is for the two to be quite similar. In coming to terms with my job situation, I turned to Jesus’ words in the
Ginger and I were watching something on TV on New Year’s Eve when one of the characters said something that gave me my watchword for 2007. I told her I had decided that, when someone asked me how I was, rather than saying, “I’m fine,” or “I’m
Ginger told a wonderful story for the children’s message yesterday. A second-grader was having trouble with his writing assignment and kept making mistakes. Each time, he would erase what he had written to the point that he tore a hole in his paper. He went up to the teacher
My beautiful lapis blue 1997 Jeep Cherokee Sport turned 166,000 miles today and it’s still going strong. Watching the odometer flip made me think about the waning days of this year and what awaits us in the next. Is this an ending or a beginning? For my car,
don't eat alone is one year old today. Corndogmatic mentioned a meme that's going around where you post the first line of the first post of each month as a way of reviewing your blog for the year. I've altered the idea a bit,