Reflecting on the long-term impact of the Bubonic Plague (1346-1353) sweeping across Europe and ravaging his native Florence, the poet Petrarch wrote: “O happy posterity, who will not experience such abysmal woe and will look upon our testimony as a…
The sacrament of not touching: a gift of grace made literally a matter of life and death
As congregational separation and virtual worship persist, I find myself longing for the healing touches consistently dispensed in our home congregation – sacraments of grace I’ve taken all-too-for-granted.
We inexplicably walked away from a terrifying accident. We’re still shaken – by the weight of gratitude
Some people would tell our incredible story of tragedy averted and credit angels’ wings, the intervention of something powerful and supernatural. That doesn’t fit my theology. But I have no doubt God was with us.
Why do we continue to label the death of a marriage as a ‘failed marriage’?
Although divorce does not carry the stigma it once did, in our culture it still whispers, “You failed.” The Church needs to find better language and better theology to respond with grace when a marriage dies.
To my ‘future self’: instead of resolutions, recycle mistakes and regrets into something redemptive
I took up the New Year’s challenge of writing a letter to my future self. In the process, I discovered the importance of recycling today’s mistakes and regrets into tomorrow’s opportunities.
Savoring the moment when the sacredness of the present is made plain
It is only in suspension that the sacredness of the present is made plain. What lies ahead cannot be seen, but each day has enough trouble of its own. For now, there is this moment. This breath. This being here.
Building the muscles of a posture of grace
I have terrible pain in my neck. On the right side, just under the skull. I can point right to it. It’s always in the same place. It can make normal activities like sleeping and driving almost torturous at times….
What judgmental Christians and playboy Olympic swimmers have in common
When we allow judgmental individuals to set the ministry agenda in our churches, or dominate the air-time of our congregational energy, we surrender the church’s ability to be a conduit of God’s grace in the world. We put grace on the backburner.
Being lost, being found
We were out visiting for the church, Brother Tommy and I, two Baptists prepared to “win the lost for Christ,” on a steamy summer Sunday afternoon in Fort Worth. Brother Tommy was church deacon and I was a high school…