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Another cup of coffee
“For what it’s worth,” F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “it’s never too late . . . to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I… Continue reading
authentic self, choices, growing up, inexperienced pastors, Jesus in the wilderness, Lent, maturing in faith, never too late, old sermons, original self, outgrowing the old self, reorienting ourselves to God, repentance, starting over, temptation of Jesus, The Peterkin Papers, Willem Lange, William Faulkner -
Three Rs for today
Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart. (Joel 2:12a) Seldom has a question caught my attention as suddenly and completely as the one I overheard on a busy street in Manhattan forty years ago. I had spent the day in Midtown and was headed to catch a bus for… Continue reading
a better life, Ash Wednesday, choices, choosing, course corrections, destination, journey, Lent, life's journey, orientation to life, renewal, renewing, reorientation, repent, returning, returning home, sin, spiritual growth, spiritual hunger, Wendell Berry, Where am I going, wilderness experience, will of God -
Faith like a sparkling drop
No one knows what happened in the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matt. 17:1-9). Deep truths are elusive and almost always wrapped in mystery – from the Greek mustēs, “secret,” something we’re not supposed to talk about in public. Maybe we’re not supposed to talk about the Transfiguration, and maybe that’s why, after the disciples witnessed it,… Continue reading
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The choice
It has been called “the most misread poem in America” (David Orr, The Atlantic, 19 May 2018). The poem is Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” and Frost seems to have shared that opinion. He warned his readers, “You have to be careful of that one; it’s a tricky poem – very tricky.” The way… Continue reading
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That final trip home
My resolve not to return to Missouri for a visit started to waver months ago as I considered a retrospective (final?) tour of the turf where my family roots are sunk deep. I recalled how grounded I felt in 2019 when I last wandered the hills and homesteads my paternal family line has called home… Continue reading
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You are the light of the world
Last week I said that, although there is so much darkness in the world around us, it’s not a world of complete darkness; a light shines, which the darkness will not overcome. That light is the light of love, I said, and we are its torches. Today in Matthew’s gospel we hear Jesus say the… Continue reading
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Through the lens of love
According to Thomas Moore, teacher, psychotherapist, and author of the New York Times bestseller Care of the Soul, slight shifts in imagination have more impact on living than major efforts at change. Deep changes in life follow shifts in imagination. Jesus said the fulfillment of your deepest dreams and God’s greatest promises – the kingdom… Continue reading
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The key to abundant life
“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice” (Luke 17:15). If you’re confused by the gospel of Jesus, you might have good reason to be. Jesus said he came that we might have more and better life than we ever dreamed of having (John… Continue reading
The Sauntering Pilgrim 