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 in Boise, Idaho. Ezekiel 37:1-14 December 9, 2017 Our passage from Ezekiel’s prophecy is full of evocative language and imagery. We can picture a valley where life is nowhere to be seen. Cracked and parched earth, piles of bones wherever you look. And what can we do in…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho. December 3, 2017 Daniel 3 King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits. If my biblical math is correct, that’s about 90 feet tall, and about 9 feet wide, which is maybe not a hallmark of…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho Nov 11, 2017 Amos 5 What does justice look like to you? The image of justice in our nation is of a woman, with a blindfold, holding scales that are perfectly balanced, equitably balanced, just. I’ve always liked this image of Lady Justice. She’s strong.…
The “me too” campaign may have taken 10 years before it really caught fire, but now that so many stories of harassment, assault, and rape are coming out, I’m feeling in equal measure hopeful and horrified. I’m hopeful because when this behavior is brought to the light, it loses it’s power to do damage in…
I recently dressed like Wonder Woman at our church’s Trunk or Treat event. It was great fun. I’ve been planning the costume since I saw the film in the theater. Hours before the event, however, this conversation took place in my mind. Voice: You shouldn’t wear that costume. You were going to lose weight over…
It’s a casualty of my profession, perhaps, but I believe our actions reveal our theology. In other words, the things we do and sometimes the words we say reveal what we believe about the God in whom we claim to believe (or the god in whom we claim we don’t believe). When words and action…
A few years ago, I wrote about my concerns with (then presidential candidate) Trump’s statements about why he has never asked God for forgiveness. Here was what Mr Trump said: “I like to be good. I don’t like to have to ask for forgiveness. And I am good. I don’t do a lot of things…
I’ve always believed that language matters. For example, I never refer to someone who is here without documentation as an “illegal”. People cannot be illegal. Their political status may be undocumented. Their behavior may break laws. Their very existence, however, is not a crime. The language we use to describe people orders the way we…
I promise I would love to be done talking about dress codes and what people wear. I would. (Here are some other posts I’ve written. This one about Beyonce. This one about Hurricanes and covering shoulders. Or that time a woman was forced to take off clothes because she was wearing too many. And when Pope…
Glass Overflowing 