Everyone is a gift to the world, a neat package of talents, passions and even weak areas, that, if realized and fulfilled, would make a real difference in this world. God has created each of us to be a certain kind of person, to pursue certain interests, to contribute with all of ourselves to life […]
Charlotte has had a particularly dry year this winter and spring, although no one is saying the “d” word yet. I moved here from Northern California where two particularly bad droughts have imprinted on me a need to keep track of rainfall, mostly on the subconscious level. The droughts I lived through there required us […]
Very early in the morning or very late at night, when there is no traffic noise and for some reason I am awake, I can hear the train whistle from far away. It sounds to me like a call to wander, to see new places, and something within me trembles a little at the thought. […]
What is your heart’s desire? Please note that the question is not “what do you THINK you want?” I am asking what your whole being wants, what the real you wants, not the you in the advertising-induced coma who wants what he or she is told to want. To answer the question “what is my […]
This morning I’m singing the “What’s it all about, Alfie?” song. What does it mean that we come together as a church? Is this all there is? I want something more dynamic and alive, more connected and contemporary. I am looking for the people with the most depth and capacity for love. I’m looking for […]
From the quiet, intimate melodies of Keith Jarrett’s “I love you Porgy” to the uptempo blast of Duke Ellington’s “Take the A train”, nothing illustrates individual expression better than Jazz music. Think of Count Basie, Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck. How different they are from each other and yet they all fall within the Jazz […]
For a friend of mine, let’s call her Mary, it is her daughter-in-law who drives her nuts. Her son’s wife violates everything that my friend holds holy and natural, but it is the neglect of the health of her grandchildren that she has the most trouble turning over to God. Mary has a very close […]
I was brought up in a hell-fire and damnation church in Kentucky with the preacher yelling and screaming about how sinful we were and how consigned to hell we were, pounding his fist on the pulpit for emphasis every Sunday. This was a powerful and toxic drama that had these effects on me: 1)a tendency […]
The great egrets are so easy to spot if they are present in the landscape—their pure white feathers do not blend into any landscape. Where I lived for so long in the San Francisco Bay Area the great egret is quite common. Known to feed and nest in the marshy shallows of the San Francisco […]
In the last two postings I have written about the signals, warnings and wisdom that our bodies, thinking and emotions offer us about ourselves. Today I want to talk about the kind of signals that the Holy Spirit is sending us through encounters with people, suggestions of books to read or movies to see, someone’s […]