A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho Feb 4, 2018 John 4 Last week, you heard the story of Nicodemus meeting Jesus. While the woman at the well is my favorite story in the bible, I also love the Nicodemus story, and I noticed some contrasts and some similarity between them. Nicodemus…
William Stafford’s poem, “The Way it is”, is my companion on this first day of a new year. The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho May 7, 2017 Acts 8:26-39 A dear friend called me the other night to tell me a remarkable story. I hesitate about telling all the details of someone else’s story that is very much still unfolding, but when I get to the end of it,…
Last night at our church’s Session meeting (our church board), someone shared this quote from Roger Bannister during her devotion to start the meeting: “Doctors and scientists said breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line,…
I met my birth mother this weekend. (Here is the first post about it.) It is difficult to know what to share here. She remains a very private person, and it is not my role to tell her story. Except, of course, that her story is my story.She still does not want to tell her…
Yesterday I drove to Reno. There’s a whole lot of empty miles on that drive, which was good. Because I needed that much open space to process the journey. I’ve come to Reno to meet my birth mother. And my thoughts are as cloudy as that horizon. I don’t know how today will go. She…
Think about a favorite memory from your early childhood. Maybe you can see it in your mind, like an old family movie, images reinforced with the family stories told about it. I “remember” my first trip to Disneyland, even though I was not quite 3 years old. I’ve seen the home movies. I’ve heard the…
