It was a Monday morning. I had begun my shift at the hospital as the pager sounded. “Report to the ICU. There is a case for you.” That was 1981. I was a hospital chaplain then. I was called to provide pastoral support to the first person with AIDS I… Read More »Lesson from a Different Pandemic
I’m like many other people. I live with physical pain. I’ve not wanted to write about this because I know others have much more serious pain than I do. Also, I’m not looking for remedies. I take appropriate care of myself, but nonetheless, I live with physical pain. I have… Read More »Living With Pain
The questions begin as people look for ideas…or perhaps inspiration and support. “What are you giving up for Lent?” Candy, alcohol, time on social media, yelling at reckless drivers: the list goes on and on. We’ve come to associate the six weeks before Easter that is known among Christians as… Read More »Lent and Giving Up
“I never heard anyone talk about it that way before,” she said. “It makes so much sense.” That’s what she said to me in response to our very brief discussion about spirituality. I was talking to a woman in her early thirties on break at a conference. She asked about… Read More »It’s Who We Are
In preparing to write about hope, I did an online search for quotes about hope. The majority of quotes represented a kind of Christian faith that I really don’t understand. They seemed to equate hope with faith in Jesus as a personal savior. There were other quotes from a rationalist… Read More »Can We Hope?
It was a conversation my doctor didn’t expect. I had carefully considered how to initiate it. I decided that it was best to just jump into it. On a recent visit I asked, “Given my current health and way of life, in rough terms, how long do you think I’ll… Read More »The Privilege of Growing Older
Let’s just admit something that’s simply true: life can be very difficult. For decades, war has raged in the Middle East and Central Asia with no real solution in sight as hundreds of thousands of refugees flee to Europe. Each day, children and youth are gunned-down in the streets of… Read More »Finding Light in the Darkness
The movement started when Christianity could be legally practiced in the Roman Empire. Those in serious pursuit of a way of life that could be called “Christian” left their towns and cities and headed to remote places to live alone or in small groups. The most notable were the ones… Read More »Becoming Fire
