Our family got our first television set when I was 6 or 7 years old. I clearly remember the first afternoon coming home from school; we watched cartoons. Childhood memories stick with us because they touched something unique or special…
Six ways white and multiethnic churches can heal the wounds of racial trauma
“Trauma” is a word that comes from the Greek term for “wound.” Often, the most painful wounds are not physical, but those that cannot be seen with the natural eye. There is a particular type of trauma that can impact…
We need to remember the scars of our trauma in a post-pandemic world
I went to a Red Sox game a couple of weeks ago for the first time in more than a year. Fenway Park recently reopened its stadium to fans but was selling tickets to partial capacity at the time. Before…
Regathering for worship, processing our pain and remembering our baptism
As a pastor who is trained in both social work and ministry, I have been thinking about how to offer collective pastoral care to my congregation as we process the pandemic together. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult season…
After COVID: Where do we go from here?
After 14 months of strict isolation and quarantine, vaccines are finally rolling out across the country with snowballing momentum. As of April 19, every American age 16 and older is eligible to receive a vaccine to protect against the COVID-19…
The power of an encouraging word
One doesn’t typically reach my age without the onset of one or more health issues that must be confronted. So, in this 75th year of my life, I have had lower back surgery to help ease the pain in my hips…
Four toxins to address in healing from this wretched season
What healing can come from this wretched season, and how can I write about it healingly? I’m thinking of this pandemic season stretching on and on with more thousands dying and more upended lives. I’m thinking about this political season,…
My cancer journey: ‘May the peace of God swaddle your world’
In her poem “The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac,” Mary Oliver observes that the fox and the snake move silently in the woods. And then she asks why we should be surprised that cancer could silently enter the forest of…
Anointed by the little hands of my 5 year old; sustained through my agonizing pregnancy by her faith
My at-risk pregnancy was physically and spiritually strenuous and often excruciatingly painful. It was the faith of our 5-year-old daughter that helped sustain me.
Ungida por las manos de mi niña de 5 años; sostenida por su fe durante mi embarazo agonizante
Mi embarazo de alto riesgo fue física y espiritualmente extenuante, y a menudo, terriblemente doloroso. Fue la fe de mi hija de 5 años lo que me ayudó a sostenerme.
Toni Morrison and the story of Rizpah: creating language that heals in a time of trauma
How the late Toni Morrison “did language” invited a greater intentionality in telling the stories that might make for a different future. What could be more important in these troubling and traumatic days than crafting language that heals a broken nation, a people concerned about the current dystopic narrative?
‘It is Well’: hope amid fear after facing the ‘C word’ 4 times
My life’s journey has taken me through cancer four times. On rare occasions, I was able to confront the repeated news of recurring cancer with a bit of confidence. Most of the time, I was forced to my knees by the demon of cancer and begged God for a miracle my dad never received.