How do you conceive or understand prayer? Many of us understand prayer in terms of words: we ask for things. Whether the prayer is to God or the Universe, we make requests for something we believe to be good or to avoid what we believe to be bad. This is… Read More »Moving Deeper into Prayer
As the New Year begins, and the Twelve Days of Christmas come to culmination on Epiphany, I thought I’d simply share a poem by Thomas Merton. In case this is not familiar to you, Epiphany ends the twelve days of Christmas and is traditionally observed among Christians on January 6. … Read More »Epiphany Carol
When it comes to Christmas, what do you believe? It’s like it happened yesterday. I woke up Christmas morning. It was still dark outside. No one else was awake in the house. I made my way from my bedroom, through the living room, to the dining room where my family… Read More »Yes, I Believe in Santa Claus
As Christmas approaches, does the absence of loved ones color the season with shades of blue? It’s a song that’s part of my early childhood memories. I’m sure I remember it because both of my parents always listened to music and my father tended to sing along. Given my parent’s… Read More »A Blue Christmas
In the midst of all the routine aspects of your life, what inspires you to find something special or more meaningful in your life? A new day begins. We get out of bed, get dressed, grab breakfast, perhaps help family members get ready for the day, and go off to… Read More »Beyond the Ordinary
Have you considered that most things that happen in our lives are neither essentially good nor bad but some ambiguous mix that we consider “ordinary?” Perhaps one of the most haunting melodies in contemporary music is Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah! Since his death on November 7, 2016, the song has been… Read More »Gratitude and Hallelujah!
I arrived at church on a Sunday morning in 1996. I was pastor of a congregation in Miami Beach. Walking in the door, a group of people asked, “Do you know about Richard?” I learned that the night before Richard, a white man in his late 30’s had been murdered.… Read More »Hatred and Violence: The Importance of Safe Communities
I’ve just returned from Oberlin College outside of Cleveland, Ohio. It was there I watched election night coverage which left me nothing less than stunned. Oberlin College: a place that served as a way-station along the Underground Railroad helping to move Southern slaves to new lives in Canada. Yes, a… Read More »Reflections on the Election by a Progressive Christian Minister
