Fall is one of my favorite times to return to my Midwest roots in the Chicagoland suburbs. Walking through the town where I grew up, I am frequently overcome with a sensory experience that can practically overwhelm both my olfactory …
Continue readingWhen I came into the office, the message light on the phone was blinking red. I pushed the play button, and his voice sounded smooth and neutral. I was intrigued because when I listen to him, even if only on …
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Our first Thanksgiving in Gainesville, John and Fonda Eyler let us use their beach house in St. Augustine for a few days. We planned a rather elaborate Thanksgiving feast for the two of us, so after a beautiful night listening …
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Philippians 4:4-13 Our summer songs are resolving themselves into the echoes of autumn. Here, we live, move, and have our being to the rhythm of the school year, even if we don’t teach or otherwise work with students, even if …
Continue readingWhile I was on vacation recently, I went down to the lake to do one of my favorite things, stand-up paddle boarding. I’m so old-fashioned that I don’t carry a device for note taking, but paper and pen when I’m …
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READINGS: Summer develops in days. Right now body and soul are making adjustments as our place under the sun shifts. We stand between the times, and there is always much to learn at the boundary. In the midst of summer …
Continue readingThe end is near. It has felt that way over the last month, watching the violence of our world exploding onto familiar streets, waking too often to news of death and terror. As these horrific events accumulate, the effect on …
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I started writing this sermon last week while I was with the UCG team on spiritual pilgrimage in Ireland. My computer was perched on the window sill facing the mountains in the sweet sitting room of the house where we …
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Over the past year, I’ve listened to the oral arguments of a couple hundred Supreme Court cases. I know; I’m obsessed. It started last April with Obergefell, the equal marriage case, and it took off from there. At first I …
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About a month ago UCG member Doug Whalen asked me if having been through the civil rights movement of the 60’s, was I a little surprised and perhaps dismayed to be going through what seem like the same issues all …
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Over the last month I’ve been leading a small group, teaching members of our congregation what I know about preaching in preparation for UCG’s first lay preaching festival. This Wednesday you are invited to come hear 10 wonderful new preachers …
Continue readingLast Sunday, driving home from church I was listening to the TED radio hour. The featured speech was a reprise of one offered several years ago by social scientist Barry Schwartz on his book The Paradox of Choice. In …
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