Life is HARD (can I get an ‘amen’?). Life TOGETHER can be harder. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but today’s topic is DISCIPLINE. I know – we’re as crazy about discipline as a biting toddler or a teenager whose driver’s permit is burning a hole in the wallet. Spiritual discipline, as with […]
I used to run in the mornings. When I was (significantly) younger, I would wake up early and sleepily tie on my sneakers, pop a cassette tape into my Walkman (yup – just dated myself), put my headphones on (no earbuds, mind you, just a couple of generously-sized speakers that nearly covered my entire ear), […]
I know, I know… you’ve heard all of the quotes before: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Reinhold Niebuhr “If you don’t create change, change will create you.” “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” “Change […]
This has been a season of wrapping things up for me – more so than ever before. Every year the school year ends. Every year a class of Confirmation students is welcomed into Church membership. Every year we celebrate our graduates and applaud their achievements. But this year has been different for me. This year […]
I’ve just received the fifth email warning today, informing me that my email address has been pirated by an ‘unauthorized person’ outside of the Epsilon system. Epsilon is apparently a massive e-mailing machine, but I’m awfully glad I don’t own their stock today as I open email #5 from yet another apologetic company. “We are […]
I just stepped out of my closet. My head is hanging, because I thought it might be effective to poke fun at myself and my obvious obsession with shoes. I figured that, if I wanted to really make a strong argument for the case of the damage done by our excesses, I should begin at […]
You think I’m kidding, but I’ve never been more serious. I WELCOME YOU to my MID-LIFE CRISIS because I’ve learned that ‘the more, the merrier’ is as practical as good counsel gets, and the one thing that my mid-life crisis has failed to produce is ‘merry’ of any kind. ‘Merry Christmas,’ we say. ‘Eat, drink […]
Every Tuesday morning, armed with my Bible and a bag of powerful, freshly ground coffee, I make my way to the church. Only, I don’t really think of it as going to ‘church’ – it’s more like going home. I never dread Tuesday mornings. On the contrary, Tuesday is my favorite day of the week! […]
I’ve been on a retreat this week. Never mind that I worked as many as 13 hours a day while retreat-ing. Never mind that what occupied much of my mind-space this week had to do with counting books and counting money. Never mind that my retreat required air travel and taxi rides and coordinating a […]
I’m not satisfied with Sunday School answers. I come by this quality honestly as I’m sure I inherited at least part of my inquiring mind from my mother. She “graduated” early from Confirmation classes because the Pastor couldn’t deal with her challenging questions for another year. Not that she quit asking them, mind you. I […]