“Samson is a prime example of someone who does not become who God most wanted him to be. Yet I have to believe God’s grace is with him anyway.”
All in Public Bible Scholar
I Am Tired of Talking About This
“But the second reason I am tired of talking about this is that I have been talking about it… for 22 years. Nothing has changed with all of those words. But just for kicks, let’s just make a run through all that I have been saying, shall we?”
Our Common Story
“And now we are not divided by devices that are feeding us what we want to hear. We are gathered around the campfire again, and we are sharing in our common humanity, and we are living as a people in community. We have a story that we all share. And that, my friends, is a rare and sacred moment these days.”
Did We Create Fear?
“Fear was not God’s intention for us. God did not name it. God did not introduce it into our world. We did that. And I think God has been trying to get us to uncreate fear ever since.”
God Provides
“My personal apocalypse very helpfully coincided with a worldwide one, making what could have been a terribly lonely space at least collectively lonely.
But one thing I did have on January 1, 2020 was a stove.”
“Sunday’s Coming,” She Muttered with Dread
And then I said this: “It is so funny how people think the Bible has no applicability to today.”
Then I went on with a challenge to speak the Good News into our world, while I watched a parishioner stand up and walk out of the church.
The Appreciation We Are Really Missing (It's not what you think)
“Ahh here we are, October. One of my favorite and least favorite months. I love that it turns cool and fall arrives, the crispness of the air and the aura of contemplative reflection that it inspires. I hate that it is Pastor Appreciation Month.”
The Absurdity of Hate... and Love
“The thing is, we will never get better without love. And we will really never get better just loving people like us, or people who agree with us. Instead, we will all sink into our irrational hatred.”
It's 2020 and We Gotta Talk about Meat Sacrificed to Idols
“Now, I admit, I figured as I scanned through this letter a few weeks ago, that this would be a section we would kind of blow past. Who cares about the debate about whether we eat meat sacrificed to idols or not? It is a non-issue today. But as I prepared for this week’s lesson, I could not help but notice that if I substituted “wearing masks” for “eating meat sacrificed to idols”, we had an incredibly applicable passage of Scripture here.”
The System Counts on Your Exhaustion (or Your ADD)
“My father was a plaintiff in a landmark civil rights case in Arkansas 25 years ago.
I always give people a minute to absorb that. Most of my friends have never seen my dad. He was a bit of a recluse, really all my life but definitely after the case. But in case you are looking at me and wondering, yes, he was a white man. And yes, he filed a racial discrimination suit. He was, as far as we could determine, the first person in Arkansas to file racial discrimination… due to association.”
Hearing the Traumatized Voice
“So before we stand in judgement of those who are not speaking, perhaps we instead should get quiet. Perhaps we should listen intently. Perhaps we should seek to hear the whispers of the traumatized voice.”
Coping with Change
“As you face any kind of change in your life, be it a very weird pastoral transition like we face this year, or really any significant life altering event, these means of coping will help you make it through. “
Change Reaction
Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look! I’m making all things new.” He also said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5, CEB translation)
Uh, seriously, God! Do you have to make ALL things new?!?!?! What if I don’t want those words to be trustworthy and true? There are times when I don’t want things to change. I want things to stay old and familiar. Comfortable. Easy.
Hey! Anybody Listening?!?! (aka Pastoral Transitions 2020)
“I was in a meeting of church developers and I raised the question as to what people were doing for pastors transitioning to a new church this year. At first there were crickets. Then someone spoke up and said roughly that they were moving their usual face-to-face meeting to an online option. I pushed back.”
Waking Up Still in the Tomb
“And then, let’s acknowledge that we still need Easter Monday. But maybe instead of needing it to rest and recover, we need it for weeping and gnashing of teeth. We need the space to name for ourselves that this is not how we envisioned serving Christ.”
Fully Human
“I think I would rather have a savior who understands the full reality of what it means to try to navigate life in this body that gets tired and leaks from time to time, whether it is convenient or not. A savior who sometimes flips out and flips tables. Part of what is compelling to me about following Christ is that he did experience the pain we do.”
I Am Not Afraid
After I share these insights, person after person has asked me this question: “Has all this given you any insight into what will happen to us in May?” Then they sort of laugh, as if there was any chance that such a thing would be possible. And then I say, “Yes, it has. I am not worried.” That is usually when they look at me like I have lost my mind. And then they want to know why in the world I would say something like that. So here is why.
Temporarily Cained
“Pastors often bemoan how we struggle to get anyone to kneel at the altar and pray, and we know that at least in part that is because people don’t want to announce that they are weak and need help, or to start any rumors about their lives. Social media now exacerbates this pressure to always show a perfect selfie face and a Pinterest worthy house. But I would like to push against those false realities.”
Habit Forming
“We pass things down to our children. Or we do not pass them down. We form habits in our children. Or we break habits. We choose for them what happens with their faith, or what they have to overcome to have faith. We invite our children to stand on the pew next to us and sing hymns and recite creeds, or we send them out of the worship service to play games. We encourage them to put a portion of their allowance in the plate, or we put our hand up and shake our head no to the ushers. And then we bemoan that our children become adults who do not have a foundation of faith to stand on. But we never took the time to pass faith down.”
Stolen Moments
“Now, part of me wants to proudly proclaim how prophetic that reality is. In the midst of an overcrowded and far too commercial season, my family and our one tradition speak to what is actually important about Christmas…. But try explaining that prophetic reality to a 5 year old who never has a mother home Christmas Eve to bake cookies for Santa.”