Lection Reflections Cynics, Scoffers, Despair, and Me (Psalm 1) I am, by nature, a Pollyanna. I tend to look on the bright side, to see the good in everyone, to be Up most of the time. On the Enneagram, I am a Seven, which means life to me is just one big PB&J, to be enjoyed even
Lection Reflections We’re Only Loved If We Obey? (John 15) (A Lection Reflection on John 15:9-13) At first glance, this week’s lection looks less like the reassuring Jesus of the Farewell Discourse, and more like the “right strawy epistle” of James. Lots of “ifs” here: IF you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; IF
Lection Reflections I John 3:18 -- Act or Career? "Love in word and deed." This week's Lection Reflection looks at that word "deed" – and finds a deeper meaning in the Greek. #lectionary
Lection Reflections The Right and The Wrong Way to Deny Yourself (A Lection Reflection on Mark 8:34) Since forever, humankind has been trying to propitiate an angry god. From sacrificing virgins, to self-flagellation, to whatever gift of obligation we can think up, we keep approaching the spiritual world as something to be paid off with a bribe. Then, once
Values, Faith, and Church Stop Repenting and Start Changing! (a Lection Reflection on Mark 1:15) It's just too easy, really. All I have to do is ask you to tell me the first picture that comes to your mind when I give you a word, and I bet many of you will come up with the
Lection Reflections Lection Reflection: Processing the Transfiguration This week's passage is a very familiar one, and has been written and preached about so many times that there is not much for me to add. I will note, though, a couple of things that struck me.
Writing and the Arts New poem -- "The Taking of Jim Smith's Life" Short, fun, doggerel -- but also true. Read it here.
Lection Reflections Gluttony -- We Don't Talk About It, But We Still Do It (A Lection Reflection on I Corinthians 6:12) It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a sermon, or a sermon series, on The Seven Deadly Sins. Perhaps the list and the concept are seen by some as “too Catholic.” Perhaps it seems too basic. Perhaps it is
Values, Faith, and Church The Work of Christmas For this morning's Ephiphany service, we sang a setting of this poem by Howard Thurman. I did not know this poem, or this setting, until we practiced it a few weeks ago -- but the first time we sang it, I cried. It is beautiful, moving, and pointed. May we spend 2015 doing the work of Christmas.
Meta I'm Back After many months away from all my sites, after many months of combining work with campaigning, after many months of doing no writing except for campaign blurbs and publicity pieces, I am very pleased and excited to share this important news: I'm back. After the election was over,
Lection Reflections Seeing Others As Zeros (Luke 18:9) Years ago, there was a certain band-director who was known for building a winning program, no matter what it took. One tactic he used was to take coat hangers and shape them into a circle, with the hangar part made into a handle. If you messed up the marching
Writing and the Arts The Muse Bank I have long had an on-again, off-again relationship with Morning Pages (MP). Even though I am a big, big fan of Julia Cameron and The Artist's Way, as someone who works a regular job for a living and writes on the side, there have been long
Lection Reflections Stop Being So Damn Needy! (a Lection Reflection on Luke 14) There's a great scene in Stephen King's memoir On Writing where he describes an incident between himself and his wife Tabitha, who is also an accomplished author in her own right. They were taking a trip, and Stephen was driving.
Lection Reflections Are We Part of the Oppression? OK, let's cut to the chase. This week's lections have two readings that present an easy-peasy contrast: Isaiah 58 and Luke 13. The Isaiah passage addresses religious people who act out the stage play of their religion (holding fasts), but then fail to act out
Lection Reflections Can We Get a Grown-Up View of Faith? (A Lection Reflection on Hebrews 11) Years ago, I read a book that immediately went onto my "key books" bookshelf: Good to Great by Jim Collins. The author and his team of researchers looked at pairs of companies in the same industries that at one time had been
Writing and the Arts Getting MORE Serious About Writing I've been pretty regular in doing my weekly Lection Reflection pieces, and they have gotten good attention, due primarily to being linked from TextWeek. (A great resource, by the way -- visit it, use it, and throw some support to Jenee, the person doing it.) It's been
Lection Reflections Are You Wealthy Toward God? (a Lection Reflection on Luke 12: 13-21) There's an old joke about sermon writing that references "three points and a poem." If you're working on a sermon, I don't have a poem for you -- although there are some on the site
Lection Reflections Amos 8, the Headlines, the System, and Us (A Lection Reflection on Amos 8, Psalm 15, and Psalm 52) Have you read this week's lections yet? No? OK, then -- here is the link to the online lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. Be sure to read Amos and the two Psalms. I'll wait
Lection Reflections Are You That Guy? I love reading spy thrillers. I like following all the plots and characters, I like the suspense, I like the twists and turns of the story. And, I like a good hero. Why? Because I imagine myself as the hero. As Bruce Willis said in Die Hard 4, I like
Lection Reflections Is Your Pride Godly? (A Lection Reflection on Luke 10 and Galatians 6) If you were to plan a sermon on pride in most churches, the thought bubbles above the listeners would look like this: "Pride. Root of the seven deadly sins. God hates it. Bad stuff. Got it." <brain off&
Life in General Asking God to Leave ... and to Stay Let me ask you an obvious question: do you pray in your church services? OK, too easy. Here's a tougher one: do you expect anything to happen? And here's the toughest one: what if something happened, and it seemed to be tied to a certain one
Lection Reflections "A Little Lower than God" -- Really? There is a Bible study group that meets in a coffee shop I frequent. They sit at a long table near an easy chair where I like to relax, drink my coffee, and read the morning paper or write. From the first time I saw them, I suspected we might
Lection Reflections Pentecost -- Who Was There, and Why Do You Care? Let's play a game. I'm going to write a phrase, and you take a snapshot of the picture that pops up in your mind when you see it. Ready? OK -- just highlight the space after the parens with your mouse: (highlight with mouse -->) Gathered believers
Lection Reflections Tough Verses in John 17 (A Lection Reflection on John 17: 20-22) OK, let's get something on the table right up front: if you want to go beyond just the devotional, then some passages are hard. They raise issues of Christology and the nature of humankind that are both complex and challenging.
Lection Reflections Waiting To Be Healed -- a Lection Reflection on John 5 (A Lection Reflection on John 5: 1-9) There are events in the Bible that are so overlaid with symbolism and meaning that trying to unpack them feels like opening one of those Russian nesting doll sets: you take out the next doll, marvel at its beauty, then see that