In the Name of Love

January 16, 2010.Reading time 12 minutes.

“In the name of Love. What more in the name of love.” – U2 “You will always have what you gave to love.” — David Wilcox and Beth Neilsen Chapman “There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear.” — 1 John Oh, the humanity… Oh, the pain… The earthquake in Haiti […]

What To Do For Haiti

January 15, 2010.Reading time 11 minutes.

As I posted earlier, most of my mission friends are now out of Haiti. Although two of their team are still at a hospital in the Caribbean. HPUMC will continue to update their site with the latest public information here. I talked with Lila Foree for along time this morning. What an amazing story they […]

Most of the HP Mission Team are back and safe.

January 15, 2010.Reading time less than 1 minute.

HPUMC is now confirming that 10 of 12 team members are in Dallas. I just had a long conversation with Lila Foree. Ken has been released from the hospital and is resting at home. Much more to say, but not now…for now….great relief….and continued prayers for the two still not home, and all those who […]

Plans Underway to Evacuate the HPUMC Team

January 14, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

Here is the latest update from HPUMC: “Our plane is in the air on the way to the Dominican Republic where it will pick up Ken & Lila Foree. Ken’s hand is injured, but extent is unknown. Two are en route to Martinique. One has serious internal injuries, the other has broken ribs. Three are […]

Please Do Not Listen to Pat Robertson

January 14, 2010.Reading time 13 minutes.

Good Lord, he’s done it again. Another horrible natural calamity, and Pat Robertson has again opened his mouth, inserted his foot, and generally embarrassed people of faith. I won’t repeat what he has said, but the gist of it is that he has claimed that this catastrophic earthquake befell Haiti because they are under the […]

The Most Trying Time of All

January 4, 2010.Reading time 6 minutes.

Although you could probably make a good argument that this post is more appropriate for January 7th, almost no one outside a small group of insiders could tell you why. So, in praxis, what follows is most appropriate today. It’s the final lines of W.H. Auden’s “For the Time Being,” a long drama that he […]

Christmas Carol

December 24, 2009.Reading time 3 minutes.

On this Christmas Eve, as snow falls outside here in Dallas, I’m listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter’s great holiday CD “Come Darkness, Come Light.” And her song, “Christmas Carol” struck me. We’re counting this as a rare White Christmas, whether or not it sticks on the ground, or there’s any here tomorrow. And out at […]

The Abominable Holy Night: Because You Need a Laugh

December 19, 2009.Reading time less than 1 minute.

OK. Get ready. If you’ve never heard this before, I offer you your biggest laugh of the day…because, as I often say, we people of faith take ourselves waaay too seriously…. The Abominable Holy Night So now, you’re wondering, “what was that?!!!” You can find out here. All honor and glory to the Burnside Writer’s […]

Kathleen, did you send the snow today?

December 2, 2009.Reading time 2 minutes.

What a joy to wake up to a brief snow storm this morning. (pics here) What a joy to have Maria run in the bedroom, screaming “IT’S SNOWING!!!” That kind of memory will never fade. Every time it snows, I will remember that moment of joy. And I needed this snow this morning. I needed […]

Buechner on Christmas

December 2, 2009.Reading time 6 minutes.

What follows is one of the most beautiful few paragraphs about Christmas ever written. I have had this blog…what?….six years? Why am I just now sharing this? Anyway, here it is, from one of my all-time favorite writers, Frederick Buechner, and his book “Whistling in the Dark: An ABC Theologized.” (A book I cannot recommend […]