Leaving the familiar is critical to travel and to life. Doing something new is sometimes impossible unless you move past what is traditional, usual. An important part of human growth is detaching from what has been important previously. A 20…
Can I give you a ride?
I like giving people rides. As I live and work in the same neighborhood with a high concentration of poverty, I find the opportunity arises quite often. It’s a simple act of kindness that gives me joy while meeting an…
Will you be known when you die?
Years ago, there was a national ad campaign aimed at helping Americans understand the importance of going to church. One of my favorite ads in the series showed pallbearers carrying a casket in the front door of a church. The…
on she bears + self discovery
“(Elisha) went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, bald head! Go away, bald head!” When he turned…
Opinions!
Baptists are an opinionated crowd. We were taught to be that way. Preachers invest a lot of time and energy saying we ought to do this and that we should not or must not do that. If you grew up…
Healthy self-care is essential for a pastor
Self-care includes developing and maintaining good physical, spiritual and mental health, a uniquely challenging but crucial discipline for a pastor. While these three areas of wellness are intertwined and inseparable, in my own life and the experience of many of…
wonder
Now that I’ve been at this for well over a year, I’m beginning to realize a few things about publishing my thoughts for people to skim on the internet: 1) It is most definitely as glamorous as you think it is. There…
Learning and unlearning
Recently I read this quote from professor Leonard Sweet: “If ministers are not constantly learning and unlearning, they are becoming less and less qualified to serve.” Sweet is on to something. I am an advocate for lifelong learning because there…
The value of remembering
A friend called last week to ask me to think back to the beginning of a community service organization I helped to launch almost 20 years ago. Despite some time in reflection, there was very little I could add…