This past week has been a year in the making. On July 23, 2022, my extended family would meet again for the first time since my late fathers passing in February of 2017. Like many large families, it seems funerals are about the only thing that still bring folks together. Even weddings aren’t quite asContinue reading “Echoes from the Holler: Family Memory”
Tag Archives: faith
The Rail
Erect, weathered, silently stalwart, lies the “rail” : the boundary between apse and chancel. It is the wooden boundary between heaven and earth, the pinnacle that acts as the liminal furniture connecting the two. Many of us miss it. We enter the church after making our way through the parking lot or courtyard, greet theContinue reading “The Rail”
Ballad of a Dead Man
“Why are you here?” she asked me, as we sat in a doctoral seminar, Summer 2016. Why am I here? That is what she asked me. Right there in front of God and everyone. And what was I to say? I was not entirely sure why I was there either. Of course, there is anContinue reading “Ballad of a Dead Man”
“Daddy, Is it our Turn to do the Bread?”
“Daddy, is it our turn to do the bread yet?” my little girls asks, her big brown eyes gazing up at mine awaiting the point in the church service when she gets to “do the bread.” I am often beside myself at how much truth comes from the mouths of babes, especially my own. ThisContinue reading ““Daddy, Is it our Turn to do the Bread?””
Lent as Re-Membering: Reflections on Luke 4
Luke 4 is the traditional text that comes to mind when we consider the beginning of Lent: the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday (Sunday celebration days withstanding) in which we reflect upon the journey of Christ into the wilderness and the temptations he encounters while there. During the season of Lent, weContinue reading “Lent as Re-Membering: Reflections on Luke 4”
Considering Books
Several weeks ago, in passing, I read an on-line post wherein a friend of mine mentioned they had gotten rid of their theological library. This person, at one time an active teacher and writer in the field, had for assorted reasons, moved on. I imagine, he, like myself, would wander into the room where booksContinue reading “Considering Books”
Be Free in Christ, Ditch the Rules
“One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ.” –Luther And Jesus said to the masses, “Come to me all ye who are weary and heavy laden…and be introduced to my list of rules.” (Matthew 11.28)Continue reading “Be Free in Christ, Ditch the Rules”
Advent Sermon: God Comes into the Lights of Evil
Did you see it? Did you see them? All around us, in the darkness, there are lanterns. Lanterns in the darkness that surround us. We peer into the darkness, squinting our eyes, attempting to make out a shape or hear a sound. We peer into the darkness trying to see who’s there. We peer intoContinue reading “Advent Sermon: God Comes into the Lights of Evil”
Christ Goes to the Movies: The Conjuring and Resurrection
Our culture is a walking contradiction. Drives me crazy. We are on board with Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, or any “professional” atheist writing today…then these same people buying the books of these methodologically inept charlatans of logic, flock to theaters to see a movie about nothing more, or less, than our fascination with the paranormalContinue reading “Christ Goes to the Movies: The Conjuring and Resurrection”
Idol/Idle Chatter: Thinking God without Being
“The idol determines the ‘god’ on the basis of the aim, hence of an anterior gaze…The idol is constituted by the thrust of an aim anterior to any possible spectacle, but also by a first visible, where, settling, it attains, without seeing, its invisible mirror, low-water mark of its rise…In other words, the proposition “GodContinue reading “Idol/Idle Chatter: Thinking God without Being”
ParanormalChrist 